Sati Shah is an adventurer whose pursuits have brought him through a multitude of canyons on the Colorado Plateau as well as in the San Gabriel and Sierra Nevada Mountain Ranges. Sati’s outdoor endeavors have also included a 700 mile, self-supported traverse of the Sierra Nevada from north to south and many winter snowboard mountaineering trips into the High Sierra, Cascades and Wallowa mountain ranges. This breadth of experience has cultivated Sati’s natural leadership abilities. He leads outdoor adventure teams with a focus on collaboration and a drive to meet the predetermined goals.

Sati has completed American Canyoneering Association Technical Canyoneering, Advanced Canyoneering and Canyon Rescue courses. He also holds Wilderness First Aid and CPR as well as AIARE Avalanche I certifications.

Sati holds a degree in Ecology from the University of California at Berkeley and holds a Master’s degree at San Francisco State University. He works as a high school biology teacher and has designed and led students on climbing and orienteering trips outside of the classroom. This work with science and science teaching has given Sati an acute understanding of the need to preserve wild places by raising awareness.

Truly awed by the beauty of wilderness, Melody dos Santos feels at home outside. This ethos helps to keep the team cognizant of their place in the canyon and the purpose of their project. Having completed the Technical, Advanced and Rescue courses of the American Canyoneering Association, Melody dos Santos co-leads this expedition. Her previous canyoneering expeditions include many canyons on the Colorado Plateau as well as in California’s San Gabriel and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges.

Melody is an avid backcountry enthusiast. She completed a 700 mile ultra-lightweight backpacking trek in California in 2005. Her photography was featured in the PCTA annual magazine. Melody also puts her AIARE Avalanche Awareness training to good use in the winter backcountry. Her splitboarding expeditions span the Sierra Nevada and Oregon’s Wallowa Mountains and have served as significant R&D opportunities on her lightweight splitboard prototypes. Melody is also certified in Wilderness First Aid and CPR.

Melody dos Santos has proven her abilities in new media and design, earning a BFA in Art Media Studies and an MA in Industrial Arts. She is trained in documentary filmmaking as well as graphic, web and motion graphic design. She is currently an instructor in the Motion Graphics Department at Expression College for Visual Arts in Emeryville, California as well as at the Bay Area Video Coalition in San Francisco. Melody also works as a designer for freelance multimedia projects.

Stacy Bloom has lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area since the fall of 1991. She received her BA in Mass Communications from UC Berkeley in the spring of 1995. Upon graduating, Stacy traveled throughout the Middle East and interned at The Jerusalem Post in Tel Aviv, Israel. Upon her return in 1996, she worked as a segment producer on CNET’s Internet newsmagazine show, “TV.COM.” Then in 1997, Stacy worked as an assistant producer and researcher on a PBS documentary, “Life Beyond Earth.” From there she was inspired to enter a graduate program in Documentary Film.

In the spring of 2001, Stacy received her MA in Documentary Film & Video from Stanford University. Since then, her short films about disabled sports enthusiasts have played at film festivals across the country and are presently distributed by Aquarius Health Care Videos. Stacy also received an honorable mention for her cinematography work in her film “Snow Motion” by the Eastman Kodak Scholars Competition.

Stacy’s most recent positions include working as an outreach coordinator on the academy award nominated feature length documentary, “Promises” and also working as an associate producer and editor at The George Lucas Educational Foundation. Currently, she works as an associate producer/senior editor for Arnowitz/Hurn, LLC and takes side jobs as a freelance shooter and editor.

Brad Meyer has been a professional sound designer for nine years, having worked on numerous video games, short films and experimental projects. Adept in the ways of foley, field recording and surround mixing, he is eager to contribute to this project as it combines his two loves of sound and the outdoors. Brad’s experience in vertical sports spans two decades. He is also an avid snowboarder, hiker, camper and traveler. His recent travels have brought him on explorations of the islands of New Zealand and the jungles of Belize.

An explorer of wild landscapes and urban decay, Jesse Hammons has lived in California, New Jersey, Brooklyn, Singapore (a city-state), and currently resides in San Francisco (also a city-state). As a technologist and a student of the Futurist School, he is always looking for a better way to get the job done. Jesse’s past experiences as a multimedia software engineer come in handy when trying to avoid interlace. Other talents include audio field recording, a keen sense of direction, and a laser-like focus that is often described as “obsessive.”

Whether canyoneering, rock climbing, snowboarding, biking or hiking, Brad Katz is passionate about adventure and pushing his limits. He completed a canyoneering tour of the San Rafael Swell on Utah’s Colorado Plateau in the summer of 2006. His climbing has brought him to many destinations, most recently to California’s Owens River Gorge.

Brad’s skill with nature photography is honed from his natural abilities with technical gear. He currently designs and installs award-winning sound systems in night clubs and outdoor venues from San Francisco to Croatia.

Heather Helmke loves the mental and physical challenges that life offers. She has descended canyons in Utah’s Robber’s Roost and San Rafael Swell regions as well as canyons in California’s Sierra Nevada. She is a 5.11 climber with a natural gift for canyoneering techniques including downclimbing, stemming and chimneying. Heather’s can-do attitude and appreciation for the outdoors comes across in her in-canyon still photography. She is certified in CPR and trained in crisis management.

Playing hard and working hard, Heather is currently in the final stages of completing her doctoral degree in clinical psychology.

Joel Gordon is a Naturalist who has spent the last three years working as a Natural History Guide in Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. Through this work, Joel has developed a keen eye for nature’s beauty and a wealth of understanding about regional flora and fauna. His guide work has brought him to Lake Tahoe as well as Fox Glacier, New Zealand. Currently residing in San Francisco, Joel pursues outdoor experiences such as skiing, canyoneering, cycling and exploring. As safety-first guide, Joel keeps the team out of harm’s way with sharp focus on problem-solving and critical thinking.

Jill Thompson’s pursuits for environmental science and sustainability have propelled her throughout the world. She earned a BA in Environmental Science at the University of Colorado where she kindled a desire to experience the natural world while minimally impacting it. Her studies in the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Zanzibar Tanzania offered cultural exchanges that gave her a true appreciation of the global struggle for environmental sustainability.

More recently, Jill worked for four years in the Alaskan Kenai Peninsula, furthering her enthusiasm for nature with many outdoor adventures, wildlife encounters and seasonal phenomena. Upon her recent relocation to San Francisco, she has sought a team with which to expand her outdoor adventure experience. A natural athlete and problem solver, Jill offers the canyoneering team substantial physical and moral support.

Mike McCabe grew up hiking the mountains around Anchorage, Alaska, but has fallen in love with the deserts and mountains of the West.
Mike is an avid explorer with a keen route-finding sensibility and an eye for the lay of the land. His many years of backcountry travel lend a confidence to the team in-canyon and at the rim.

Adept with technology, Mike pursues work with time-based media. His recent work includes programmable camera control for time-lapse animations of clouds and sunsets. As a videographer and canyoneer, Mike is able to meld his abilities for this project.

Mardi Jackson loves the outdoors, travel and adventure. She has worked for the California Conservation Corps, the California Department of Forestry and the National Park Service. She has worked as a wilderness fire fighter, a wildlife biologist and a SCUBA instructor. Mardi has visited nearly 40 countries including Thailand, Yemen and Tibet. She has completed many rock climbing, canyoneering, backpacking, kayaking, kite boarding, SCUBA and backcountry snowboarding trips. Mardi has dedicated much of her life to service, especially to managing, exploring and conserving natural resources. She deeply believes that people must be inspired to take action and that this project will have lasting positive impacts on both people and the environment. She currently works as a CTO at a San Francisco wireless start up.

Sarah Windels blends her adventurous curiosity and intrigue with a lens. She studied photography at Cornell University where she also became the photography studio manager, then continued her studies at the California College of Arts. As a founding member of the non-profit Cloud Factory Collective for the Arts, Sarah brings the ideals of community to her art. Her cameras have traveled with her throughout Italy, Germany, France, Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, England, Mexico and Canada. Sarah's love of wild places always draws her back to the rivers and gorges of Northern California.