2026 Experts in Residence

Swag Experts since 2013, Joel and Kathy Zachry share their vast knowledge and experiences of Great Smoky Mountains National Park on intriguing hikes and through enlightening evening presentations about the region’s history and natural diversity. Having completed backpacking the 2,175 miles of the Appalachian Trail and leading small group trips to remote regions of Alaska for over 25 years, they are accomplished naturalists, photographers, and writers. As authors of Bears We’ve Met – Short Stories of Close Encounters, they share their insight of the bruin and the plethora of life that coexist within its habitat. With over 40 years as instructors for the award-winning park and University of Tennessee Smoky Mountain Field School they bring entertainment and awareness to every hike and evening gathering.

Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, an enrolled citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians resides in Cherokee, NC with her husband and two sons. She holds degrees from Yale University and the College of William and Mary. Her debut novel, Even As We Breathe, was a finalist for the Weatherford Award, named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2020, and in 2021, it received the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award. After serving as executive director of the Cherokee Preservation Foundation, Annette returned to teaching English and Cherokee Studies at Swain County High School for over a dozen years. She is the former co-editor of the Journal of Cherokee Studies and serves on the Board of Directors for the Museum of the Cherokee People and is the President of the Board of Trustees for the North Carolina Writers Network.

Join Annette on daily trail adventures along with evening presentations highlighting the process of writing in and for this special place from an indigenous perspective.

Daniel (Dan) Pierce is a Professor Emeritus of History at the University of North Carolina Asheville where he taught courses in Appalachian, North Carolina, Southern, and Environmental History.  He is an avid hiker, biker, and pickleball player and sings a mean baritone in his church choir.

He is the author of four books on the Great Smoky Mountains: The Great Smokies:  From Natural Habitat to National Park, Corn From a Jar:  Moonshining in the Great Smoky Mountains, Hazel Creek: The Life and Death of an Iconic Mountain Community, and An Illustrated Guide to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In addition, his work has been published in The New York Times, Southern Cultures, Smokies Life magazine, and numerous encyclopedias including the New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture.