Welcome to OWAA

Will Cooper was born and raised near the sandy beaches of Southern California. At a young age he developed a passion for exploration — from hiking into storm tunnels as a child to running 100-mile mountain races around the world. Cooper earned his bachelor’s degree from American University’s School of International Service. He is the CEO of a national real estate company and serves as board member for several trade organizations dealing with legislation and federal policy affecting the environment. An avid runner and writer, he has completed over 30 ultra-marathons, including the Grand Slam of ultra-running — four 100-mile races over the course of one summer. He narrates his journey as an ultra-runner and outdoorsman in his unabashed running blog, willrunlonger.com. Cooper’s work has been published in print and digital media and includes inspirational articles, interviews with best-selling authors and his candid opinion on all things running and beyond.
Keith Crowley is a full-time outdoor writer and photographer based in western Wisconsin. He travels extensively each year and you’re as likely to find him on an Alaskan salmon stream as you are a mountainside in Wyoming, or in a mangrove swamp in Florida. You can find his work in Field & Stream, Sports Afield, Sporting Classics, Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited magazine, Bugle, Petersen’s Hunting, American Hunter, Defenders of Wildlife magazine, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, Newsweek, the London Times, Paris Match, the Daily Mail, the Telegraph, the Daily Register and many other national and international publications. He has authored two books: the award-winning “Gordon MacQuarrie: The Story of an Old Duck Hunter” and “Wildlife in the Badlands.” His work is also in several anthologies, including “A Passion for Grouse.” His primary website is http://www.lodgetrail.com.
Joel M. Herrling is a freelance writer and lifelong outdoorsman, from upstate New York. He got his start writing about college lacrosse for a school paper in 2002. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences, he went into sportswriting at a local newspaper. Recently, he rediscovered his passion for writing and has been focusing on the outdoors and writing ever since. His articles have appeared in North American Whitetail, American Waterfowler and other magazines. He also enjoys composing poetry about waterfowl hunting. When he isn’t writing or working, he is teaching his young children about the importance of agriculture and respect for the outdoors. Herrling is completing his debut novel, which he hopes to have published in 2017.
Bruce Ingram of Troutville, Virginia, has been an outdoor writer and photographer since 1983. Ingram regularly writes for Turkey Country, Quality Whitetails, Whitetail Times, Virginia Wildlife, Game and Fish publications, Wildlife in North Carolina and other publications. Ingram and his wife Elaine also have a cooking column, celebrating venison, for Whitetail Times. Besides hunting and fishing stories, Ingram often writes about conservation, wildlife habitat and destinations. Ingram has written seven books, including four on floating and fishing such rivers as the James, New, Shenandoah, Rappahannock and Potomac, as well as a how-to book on fly and spin fishing for river smallmouths, and his latest book, co-written with his wife, “Living the Locavore Lifestyle.” His seventh book, “Ninth Grade Blues,” is young adult story that will debut in September. Ingram is also a high school English teacher. For more information, https://sites.google.com/site/bruceingramoutdoors.
Mark Lassagne, from San Ramon, California, is a popular professional bass angler, former United States Marine, outdoor writer, guide, promoter and top competitor. He is also the editor-in-chief of Bass Angler Magazine. Throughout his career as an angler, he’s qualified for numerous regional and national events and won several. Lassagne has published articles on websites and in numerous magazines, including Game & Fish magazines, BassWestUSA, Bassin’, American Bass Angler magazine, FLW Outdoors, Rabid Angler, Fish Sniffer, Field & Stream, Western Bass, Tackle Tour and others.
Lukas Leaf is an avid, passionate outdoorsman and chef born and raised in Minnesota. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2005 with a bachelor’s of science in graphic design. Leaf was formerly executive chef at Al Vento restaurant in south Minneapolis and is now the chef for Modern Carnivore and a board member of the Minnesota Chapter for Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. His father first introduced him to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness when Leaf was 13. Since that first trip he has had the privilege to introduce many people to the beauty of the Boundary Waters through numerous camping and fishing trips. He spends his free time fishing, foraging, hunting, camping and cooking his way through the great Minnesota outdoors. Leaf now works as the sporting outreach coordinator for Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters and has appeared in its two films, “Fish Out of Water” and “Flush in the Wild.”
Mark Neuzil is a professor of communication and journalism at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is the author or co-author of seven books, including “Canoes: A Natural History in North America” and a frequent writer and speaker on environmental themes. He has worked as a reporter for the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, the Associated Press and several daily newspapers. A former summer state park ranger and licensed U.S. Forest Service guide, he has reported from across the globe, including Cuba, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Costa Rica. He lives in St. Paul.
Omelets and ducks — those were the two staples every winter for Garrett Turner growing up in Osceola, Missouri. His father taught him the importance of hunting waterfowl, and folded eggs. That passion grew and branched out to all things outdoors. Turner now resides in Roanoke, Virginia where he is an anchor and reporter for WDBJ-TV. His “work” takes him into the Appalachian Mountains covering hunting, fishing and hiking. Before coming to Virginia, he was in Alaska for three years, a wild place where, among other things, Turner worked on the Iditarod Race and witnessed the largest caribou migration in North America in a small cabin in the middle of the Arctic Circle. Turner is always up for an adventure, especially if it’s wife and dog friendly. ♦

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