JD Tanner and Emily Ressler Tanner met in the Midwest and have spent much of their adulthood traveling back and forth across the United States. Their educational backgrounds are in outdoor recreation and education, and they have over 20 years of combined outdoor education experience. Before becoming authors for Falcon Guides, they spent three years promoting responsible outdoor recreation as part of the educational traveling program known as the Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers. This opportunity gave them the chance to explore all of the lower 48 states and work with a wide range of outdoor enthusiasts.  Logging over 700 nights in a tent during that time, they visited almost 50 National Parks as they climbed, hiked, biked, and paddled throughout the United States. They served as revisers for Hiking Grand Staircase-Escalante & the Glen Canyon Region and are authors of Best Easy Day Hikes St. Louis (both FalconGuides). JD is currently the Outdoor Recreation Director at San Juan College in Farmington, New Mexico, and Emily teaches at the Mosaic Academy in Aztec, New Mexico.

Their shared love of wild places and their commitment to environmental education has provided them with the opportunity to work with people from all walks of life. When the two are not off teaching a course you might find them searching for state highpoints, planning their next big adventure, or hitting the trail for FalconGuides.