Meet our speakers for Aurora Summit 26: Celebrating the Art, Culture, Science and Photography of the Aurora!
Keynote Speaker
Joe Buffalo Child
Professional Aurora Hunter & Indigenous Tour Guide
Joe is the CEO and principal owner of North Star Adventures, a tour company based out of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Founded in 2007, North Star Adventures was created by Joe and his family to showcase Dene culture while honoring his ancestors. Joe is known for his unique ability to find the northern lights even on cloudy nights—a skill he attributes to his grandfather’s lessons on reading the weather, clouds, and birds.
Presenters
Marc Rassel, Photography Bootcamp
Professional Photographer, International Aurora and Astrophotography Tour Guide & Space Nerd
Marc Rassel is a landscape astrophotographer based in Central Minnesota, USA. Named a Milky Way Photographer of the Year in 2024, he is an award-winning and exhibiting landscape and night sky photographer, whose Milky Way photography has been featured in renowned publications and national juried shows across the United States. Marc has traveled to and photographed many locations around the world both professionally and personally, and has extensive experience photographing landscapes and the wonders of the night sky in a wide variety of locations and conditions. Through the experiences of owning and running an advertising and design firm, and his formal training in graphic design, fine arts, and marketing, he has amassed an array of skills that allow him to apply both a technical and aesthetic approach to his work and that of his students. Born and raised in Wisconsin, he spent the vast majority of his life in the outdoors exploring the deep Northwoods of the Midwest and the mountainous landscapes of Colorado while living on the Western Slope for many years, before returning to the dark skies of central Minnesota.
Vincent Ledvina
Professional Aurora Chaser, Photographer, Author & Tour Guide
Vincent Ledvina is a space physics Ph.D. student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Aside from his current research, which focuses on what causes auroral “substorms,” he is passionate about sharing his love for the northern lights with others. Part of Vincent’s work involves leveraging participatory science data from aurora chasers who can provide valuable insights into how particularly rare auroral phenomena are created. Vincent also runs aurora photography workshops in Fairbanks, Alaska, owns a northern lights tour company, and is a professional photographer and aurora chaser himself. He is an expert in timelapse photography and real-time video recording of auroras. Outside of Alaska, Vincent recently joined the Space Weather Advisory Group, a federal advisory committee serving the White House, as their first-ever student representative. Originally from Minnesota, he loves to travel and spend time outdoors.
Donna Lach
Researcher, Aurorasaurus Ambassador, Admin & Photographer
Donna Lach is an aurora photographer from Manitoba, Canada, who participates in auroral research as a citizen scientist. She is an Admin of Manitoba Aurora Chasers and a Moderator for the Manitoba Aurora and Astronomy group. She has been actively involved since 2019 when she first became an ambassador for a NASA project called Aurorasaurus. Her work and auroral observations have caught the attention of researchers and several media publications around the world. Other projects Donna has worked on include a working group sponsored by the International Space Science Institute – Bern, Switzerland, SolarMaX Mission, S.T.E.V.E. Workshops, AurorEye portable all-sky camera, and reporting aurora observations to Skywarden-Finland and Aurorasaurus. She enjoys sharing her journey as a citizen scientist and looking back on the beauty of the aurora that she has captured through her cameras.
Patrick Grubba
International Dark Sky Park Volunteer & Admin of the Michigan Aurora Chasers
Patrick Grubba is one of the leaders of the Michigan Aurora Chasers, a group that helps people catch the Northern Lights in Michigan and surrounding areas. Residing in the Mackinaw City area, he is famous for his call to “Get Outside Now,” which has helped people across the country catch the Aurora, as well as other countries like Scotland! He has discovered a love for astrophotography, and he presents and volunteers as an astronomer at the Headlands International Dark Sky Park. He also serves as President of the Board of the Mackinaw City Area Arts Council. Patrick has been published in Amateur Astronomer Magazine, Thrillist, and Stars and Space Magazine (Finland). His work also has been showcased at the Longway Planetarium in Flint and Delta College Planetarium in Bay City. He made contributions to the historic SpaceX SolarMax Fram2 Polar Orbit Space Mission on studying Aurora. The first polar orbit space mission. Patrick’s focus lies in appreciating the marvels of nature that surround us, as he documents his unique perspective of the world.
Thomas Oliver
Author, Educator, Wilderness First Responder & Michigan State Park Ambassador
Thomas Oliver is a Keweenaw-based photographer and educator specializing in Upper Peninsula night sky and wildlife photography. With a background in wildlife ecology and science education, he blends technical knowledge with practical field experience and a deep respect for place. A Wilderness First Responder and 2026–27 Michigan State Park Social Ambassador, Thomas is the author of “The Keweenaw Aurora Guide” and leads small-group excursions designed to help participants experience the outdoors with intention and awareness.
Tanya Melnik
Space Weather Unplugged Co-Host, Admin of Upper Midwest Aurora Chasers, Aurorasaurus Ambassador
Tanya Melnik is a space weather enthusiast and an Aurorasaurus Ambassador. She is passionate about science communication to the general public and encouraging citizen science participation in aurora research. Tanya serves as an admin for the Upper Midwest Aurora Chasers, one of the local aurora chasing groups. She is also one of the co-hosts of Space Weather Unplugged, a podcast focused on aurora science and space weather impacts on modern society. She is currently enrolled in the Space Weather and Environment program (SWEN) at Millersville University. Tanya is a faculty member of the Department of Medicine at the University of Minnesota.
Alan Atwood
Photographer & Aurora Chaser
Alan Atwood is currently retired from land surveying and he is pursuing new interests in landscape and night sky photography. Alan has been around cameras since he was 9 years old, getting his first black and white film camera and learning from his military experiences using 35mm camera equipment. He has photographed or observed the aurora since he was 15 and he continues to learn and expand his understanding of the science of the aurora. Now based in Calumet, he is able to continue to photograph the night sky and the beautiful landscapes of the Upper Peninsula. He is an accomplished photographer with an interest in culture and legends of the Aurora, and he co-founded Mystic Rhythms Imagery for Great Lakes Photography.
Paul Schneider
Professional Photographer & Aurora Chaser
A photographer for over 25 years, Paul is a Mechanical Design Engineer by trade in the aerospace and medical fields. He is Group Expert for the Illinois Northern Lights group. He has been published in dozens of magazines, including the Shutterbug Expert Techniques Issue for lightning photography, and he has served as the official photographer for 7 years for Balloons In June hosted in Iowa, and for 3 years for the Colorado Balloon Classic featuring over 50 hot air balloons annually. He enjoys storm chasing and photographing lightning, and photographs weddings, senior photos, sporting events, commercial work, stock photography, product photography, billboards and advertising.
Richard Montano
Admin, Aurora Chaser & Photographer
Richard is a photographer, astronomy outreach volunteer, and Admin of the Northern Lights of Wisconsin group. He discovered his passion for the night sky after seeing and photographing his first aurora in March 2023. What started with a simple phone camera quickly grew into a full creative obsession. In 2024, he transitioned to a real camera, and since then he has taken every opportunity to experiment with new, bold, and funky techniques for capturing the aurora. A lively speaker, his work is driven by curiosity, play, and a constant desire to find unique ways to frame one of nature’s most captivating phenomena.
Andy Berry
Pilot & Aviation Forecast Expert
Andy Berry is a pilot who enjoys flying as his hobby, as well as weather and photography. From his experience in aviation, he can tell you the cloud height, cloud thickness, and the forecast of when and where the clouds will be next. Andy brings a unique understanding of navigating cloud cover to find clearer skies. He combines his experience reading aviation forecasts with an entrepreneurial spirit, and attention to how the forecasts affect weather for aurora photography and astrophotography.
Jeremy Cruz
Wildlife & Fisheries Expert, Aurora Chaser & Photographer
A Pennsylvania native, Jeremy Cruz went to the University of Connecticut to study Wildlife and Fisheries Science and Digital Media and Design. Nature and media are his passion. He is a Moderator and Group Expert for the PA Northern Lights & Astrophotography group. He was introduced to Aurora during the April 23rd, 2023 geomagnetic storm, and he has been obsessed with it ever since. Since then, he has traveled to 14 different U.S. States & Canadian Provinces for Aurora, and his is closing in on 100 aurora captures since 2023. As much as he loves seeing Aurora, he loves helping other people see it even more.
Co-Founders
Founder Dixie J. Burbank
International Tour Guide, Admin & Owner of Cosmic Chaos Adventures
Dixie J. Burbank is a world traveler and the sole proprietor of Cosmic Chaos. She is an avid aurora photographer who’s been photographing the aurora borealis and other night photography images since 2012. She is an experienced tour guide having helped hundreds of people view and capture the lights. An interest in her Scottish heritage motivated her to open tours to the Highlands to experience the summer and the captivating landscape of the British Isles. She is also is an admin for Aurora and Night Sky Adventures and Northern Lights of Wisconsin groups on Facebook.
Founder Melissa F. Kaelin
Author, Public Speaker & Founder of the Michigan Aurora Chasers
An author and public speaker, Melissa F. Kaelin has been chasing the Northern Lights for over 14 years. She published the book “Beyond the 45th Parallel: The Beginner’s Guide to Chasing Aurora in the Mid-latitudes,” and motivated the Aurora community to collaborate on the first “Shape of the Sky” book of Aurora photography. She is the founder of the Michigan Aurora Chasers, a group that has been featured in books and TV news. In 2021, she began leading a “Live Chase” of the Northern Lights on active nights, escorting hundreds of people to their first Aurora sighting. Now, she has helped thousands of people to catch the Aurora for the first time, and she has traveled to five countries to witness the Aurora, including trips to the Arctic Circle in three corners of the world. She has written as an Aurora Columnist for Amateur Astronomy Magazine, and she received the Science Communicator Award for her contributions on the Ground Support Team of the SolarMax Mission in 2025.
Aurora Summit 