Theme: Elevate

TEDxBozeman is Montana’s first and longest-running TEDx event. This year's theme, “Elevate”, has been chosen as the theme for the sixth annual TEDxBozeman event which will be held Saturday, April 8, 2017. TEDxBozeman believes the same as Henry David Thoreau when he said, “I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.”

Each year the TEDxBozeman team strives to create a lineup of individuals with fresh perspectives on varied topics. Organizers aim to highlight presenters as diverse as the audience which they address. While TED mandates various rules and regulations that every locally-organized TEDx must follow, the TEDxBozeman team made the additional commitment to showcase only individuals with a connection to Montana.

TEDxBozeman 2017 will be held Saturday, April 8th at The Commons. Tickets will go on sale February 1, 2017 at 12pm. Stay tuned to TEDxBozeman’s website and social media channels for additional announcements, or contact Co-Executive Coordinators, Lindsay Morse and Chris Walch at info@tedxbozeman.com with any questions.

The Commons
1794 East Baxter Lane
Bozeman, Montana, 59718
United States

Aidan Weltner

Aidan Weltner is a creator and problem solver from Boise, ID. Aidan has a deep passion for the outdoors after spending every weekend he can remember in around the mountains of Idaho. This passion brought Aidan to Bozeman for school and he’s been riding bikes, climbing, hiking, fishing or snowboarding in all his free time ever since. He can usually be found with a camera on all his adventures. Aidan started the Instagram page, Get Your Ass into Nature, in 2015. The page was focused on giving individuals positive body image, connecting the masses with nature, and rethinking the way we use social media. The page has since turned into a movement and has had stories shared from all over the world. Aidan also has a passion for transportation reform. He started ShareLift, a rideshare app for skiers and snowboarders in 2015. ShareLift has been working with Protect our Winters to turn skiers and snowboarders into environmental advocates. They hope to expand their operations from Bozeman and Salt Lake City to the rest of the country in the next year. Aidan is always excited to tackle problems in environmentalism, transportation reform, or body positivity. He loves to try and take creativity and problem solving to whatever situation he finds himself in.

Ben Larson

Ben hails from the backwoods of Vermont, but now calls Bozeman home. Raised in a traveling family, Ben had gotten his feet dirty in all fifty states by the age of 25. He contained his wanderlust long enough to earn a Master's in Architecture from MSU. After a couple years in the design-build field, his nomadic roots could not be contained any longer. Ben stuffed some clothes in a backpack, grabbed his guitar and set off for the other side of the world. In the years since Ben has wandered from Tasmania to Alaska, Hawaii to Newfoundland, playing guitar and singing songs for thousands of strangers on remote mountain tops, in tiny pubs and busy bus stations. In July 2016, Ben published his first book, Never Homeless, about his hitchhiking adventures Down Under. When taking a break from the road, Ben plays guitar with the Backwoods Dreamers, builds custom furniture and explores the Rockies with Deke, his talking husky. He is working on next book and planning trips to Krygystan and Iceland.

Cassandra (Casey) Howard

Casey grew up in Bozeman and studied engineering at MSU before going on to complete a Masters Degree in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University. She then relocated to Galway, Ireland and completed a Bioinnovate Fellowship focused on needs-based innovation and medical device commercialization. After spending time in Ireland she had the privilege to attend Singularity University’s Graduate Studies Program in Mountain View, CA. The program brought together individuals from all over the world and focused on leveraging exponentially advancing technology to deliver innovative solutions to global grand challenges. In 2013, she moved to Colorado and taught innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs for two years. Last summer, Casey served as the Problem Process Manager for a startup focused on impact entrepreneurship. She currently teaches capstone design in the Bioengineering Department at CU Denver.

Dana Jones Rashid

Dana Jones Rashid is a developmental biologist who has been working with Jack Horner on the DinoChicken Project. Over the last four years, she has been studying the evolution of birds from their dinosaur ancestors. This work delves into the genetics and physical changes that have occurred in birds over the last 150 million years, from the time that birds first emerged as their own distinct group of dinosaurs. One of the overriding goals for the project is public education of science, especially evolutionary science. To this end, Dr. Rashid talks to local schools, has participated in television programs and magazine articles, and sits on the Science on Screen committee in Bozeman. She has lived in Bozeman for the last seventeen years, and is a member of the Cell Biology and Neuroscience Department at Montana State University.

Derry Long

Derry Long was born in North Dakota and raised on a farm. Derry has had a life-long interest in how organizations work and don't work. After approximately 30 years in the church world, Derry left to live in England and complete Ph.D. work at the University of Birmingham. His research project was how a social system creates and sustains an empowering social environment. Derry studied churches, non-profits and businesses. Since empowerment is based on the basic DNA of all humans, how they are empowered is very similar, regardless of the type of organization. Following his time in England, Derry returned to establish a consulting company to help people developing empowering environments. Derry has been married to Marcy for 45 years, and they have three children and four grandchildren. Derry loves reading, visiting the used bookshops of London and elsewhere, hiking, camping and major league baseball.

Jackie Corcoran

Jackie Corcoran’s purpose in life is to motivate as many people as possible to be healthy, happy and whole. Her fitness career has been progressing since her teens when she became an aerobics instructor. She then shifted to personal training and is currently a health coach and corporate wellness consultant. The health coaching school she attended, The Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN), encouraged her to become a public speaker and writer. This prompted her to join Toastmasters International and write a health column titled From Jackie with Love which can be found online and in the newspaper Explore Big Sky. As a health coach, she discovered her "big hairy audacious goal"; to assist the United States in becoming the #1 healthiest country in the world by 2040. This prompted the start of a Facebook page, “What Would it Take 2040” (WIT 2040). It encourages everyone to give input on what they think it would take to make this happen. She hopes you join in the conversation.

Jenna Martin

Jenna Martin is a professional fine art and underwater photographer based out of Billings, Montana. After acquiring her Master’s in Psychiatric Rehabilitation, she made a drastic career change into the field of photography. In 2013, she built her own underwater camera housing, entered the world of underwater portraiture and never looked back. She now displays work in various art galleries throughout the country and has shot in various locations around the world. When she's not taking pictures, she's spending time with her family, taking in stray animals and participating in general, all-around rule breaking.

Katie Mazurek

Katie Mazurek is a charismatic and dynamic speaker whose battle with Stage III breast cancer sets the tone for an authentic and deeply relatable presentation. Mazurek is a Collaborative family law attorney in Bozeman, Montana who founded her firm, Element Law Group, four days prior to her diagnosis. She is the mother of two young children whom she raises with her husband, Tom Mazurek. Katie is a passionate writer and blogger who touches readers through personal stories of pain, triumph, loss, growth, and acceptance. Her blog, katieovercancer.com, has reached over 100,000 readers and she has been featured in print and television media for her accomplishments and inspirational lifestyle. She engages audiences by speaking with vulnerability, courage, and compassion for ourselves and others. She has created a community of love and support through her battle with cancer. Her work has been healing and restorative for many following her writing.

Mariah Gladstone

Mariah Gladstone grew up in Northwest Montana with one moccasin in the the Flathead Valley and one in the Blackfeet Reservation. She began developing her own recipes at the age of two and gradually started incorporating indigenous foods. She graduated from Columbia University last May with a degree in Environmental Engineering. During her time there, she was an instrumental part of the university’s Native American Council where she implemented programming around indigenous issues including environmental activism, Native humor, and physical and nutritional wellness. She has returned to Kalispell where she continues to work on Native issues, specifically developing a pre-colonial cooking show called Indigikitchen. Mariah has been recognized as one of the top 25 Under 25 leaders in Indian Country and as a Champion for Change by the Aspen Institute.

Paul Churchill

Recovering Entrepreneur

In 2006, Paul Churchill moved to Granada Spain where and purchased a bar. In the following three years he became a dependent on alcohol, blacking out close to 7 nights per week. In February, 2015 Paul launched the Recovery Elevator podcast as an accountability tool to stay sober. Today, it’s been over 2.5 years since Paul last took a drink of Alcohol and the podcast is approaching 1 million downloads. The Recovery Elevator podcast is in the 96th percentile of all podcasts on iTunes and has been downloaded in all 50 states and over 130 countries. The Recovery Elevator podcast has evolved into a private membership community, with over 250 members from all over the world. In August, Paul will be hosting a ‘summer camp’ themed recovery retreat in Bozeman, Montana. Paul has spoken to thousands of students about alcohol awareness and was a featured speaker at My Brave LA this January.

Payton MacDonald

Payton MacDonald is a composer, percussionist, singer, filmmaker, ultra-distance mountain biker, and a professor at William Paterson University. He has toured the globe as a musician, performing in many of the world’s greatest venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Barbican, Walt Disney Hall, and many others. He also spends long days in the saddle, riding through mud, snow, rain, sleet, and sun, and sleeping in the dirt. For more information about the Sonic Divide, please visit www.sonicdivide.com

Quentin Robinson

Born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Quentin is the youngest of 5. A former Marine Corps veteran, Quentin served in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as various locations on combat tours. Quentin has been dancing for 17 years teaching dance workshops and performing domestic and internationally. He is featured on many platforms such as HATCH, VIDCON 2015-16, Last Best Conference 2016, BET, Zoe’s Summer Groove, Telemundo2, The Roof x2, the Florida Fly competition, etc. Quentin's dream is to teach choreography and perform on a global scale to bring everyone closer through movement. Currently Quentin is producing a live interactive dance workshop internationally, to break the social, racial and cultural barriers that cause our human divides.

Rick Smith

Rick Smith is a Bozeman, MT based cinematographer specializing in nature, wildlife and adventure documentary filmmaking. For the last decade he has lent his technical expertise and visual storytelling abilities to award winning television series and documentaries such as NatGeo Wild’s America The Wild and NBCs The Island with Bear Grylls. Since 2009, Rick has earned 3 NW Regional Emmy’s for his work on programs for Montana PBS including a 2016 Emmy award for his work as co-producer and cinematographer on Finding Traction. His filmmaking experiences have shaped his understanding of both the human and natural world and given Rick a unique perspective about the skills, traits, and mindset most useful in challenging environments. Rick received his undergraduate degree in Biology from Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA and a MFA in Science and Natural History Filmmaking from Montana State University.

Robb Diehl

As a professor in Mississippi, Robb directed a research program studying the biology of migratory birds. Since accepting his current position with the US Geological Survey in Bozeman, he has been exploring the hazards that birds and bats face from the accumulating effects of human development of the airspace. Wind turbines and certain forms of solar energy, which can burn birds and insects while in flight, represent difficult environmental trade-offs between minimizing impacts to wildlife while acting to stave off the more lasting effects of climate change. Unfortunately, flying animals make challenging study subjects. Their small size, nocturnal habits, and high altitude flight make direct observation difficult. So, Robb works to enable weather radars, thermal cameras, and other technologies that help reveal the behaviors of flying animals. This intersection of aerial biology, the threat of human development, and reliance on remote sensing methods describes the emerging field of aeroecology. Today, Robb might be considered an “aeroecologist”. He recognizes that the ecology of the airspace has more in common with the ecology of land and water than we ever imagined. Like land and water, the air above us supports great biodiversity and provides all the resources necessary to sustain life for animals that may remain in flight for months without landing. Robb also pursues the open question of whether current environmental law can be extended to allow for the protection of critical airspaces the way we protect critical land and water habitat.

Ryan Alec Erickson

Ryan Alec Erickson is a trans and queer social justice advocate, mentor, and scholar pursuing a Master’s Degree in Education with a focus in higher education administration. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Montana State University, where he received the Student of Achievement and Spirit Outstanding Student Awards. In addition, he founded a local organization for LGBTQ youth, for which he won funding from the Bozeman SOUP micro-granting dinner. Ryan has had numerous public speaking opportunities on the importance of perseverance, leadership, charity, and social justice. Ryan firmly believes in constantly working to improve himself and the way he respects others, and that if he ever believes he has learned it all, he has not truly learned anything.

Shane Larson

astrophysicist

Shane is a research associate professor of physics at Northwestern University, and an astronomer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. He works in the field of gravitational wave astrophysics, specializing in studies of compact stars, binaries, and the galaxy. He works in gravitational wave astronomy with both the ground-based LIGO project, and future LISA space-based observatory for NASA. Shane grew up in eastern Oregon, and was an undergraduate at Oregon State University where he received his B.S. in Physics in 1991. He received a Ph.D. in theoretical physics in 1999 from Montana State University. He is an award winning teacher, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He currently lives in the Chicago area with his wife, daughter and cats. He contributes regularly to a public science blog at writescience.wordpress.com, and tweets with the handle @sciencejedi.