2027 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.

Artist and hikers, Gay Bryant and Rita Rothmeier, will lead Swag guests for morning hikes on various trails, sharing their knowledge of wildflowers, plants, and Smoky Mountain lore. In the afternoons, you can explore your creative side with beginning-level lessons in watercolor painting and relief printmaking to create original artwork that will document your stay at The Swag. Gay has been a studio painter, printmaker, and art instructor for 30 years and her work is represented in regional galleries and international collections. She has hiked all 900 miles of the official trails in the Smokies and creates work focusing on the natural beauty of the forests. Gay will be assisted by Rita Rothmeier, a naturalist, painter, printmaker, spinner, fiber artist, nurse, and outdoors enthusiast. Children must be at least 12 years old and under the supervision of an adult to participate in the art class.

Steve Kemp has worked as a seasonal park ranger in Yellowstone and Denali national parks and spent 30 years with nonprofit Great Smoky Mountains Association as a writer, editor, and publisher. He is a frequent contributor to Smokies Life Magazine and is the author of Trees or the Smokies, Smoky Mountain Impressions, We’re Going to the Mountains, and, most notably, Who Pooped in the Park?

Janet Rock graduated from Maryville College and Western Carolina University and worked for the U.S. Forest Service before embarking on her 28-year career with Great Smoky Mountains National Park as the park’s official Botanist. Her focus was on rare plants, ramps, and ginseng. She is co-author of the popular field guide, Wildflowers of the Smokies, and has contributed to several scientific articles on park plants.

Scott was born and raised in the mountains of southern Appalachia, specifically the coalfields of West Virginia and southwestern Virginia. Western North Carolina has been his home since 1992. After retiring from the military, he attended UNC-Asheville, earning a degree in biology, with a focus on the flora, fauna and geology of the southern Appalachians. He developed the original curricula, and teaches field classes for the Blue Ridge Naturalist program now offered at the N.C. Arboretum. Join Scott on day hikes and evening presentations to discover the many varieties the Smokies has to offer.

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.

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.