James W. Hulse, alumnus of University of Nevada, Reno, taught for 35 years as a member of the university’s history department faculty. Hulse is the author of several books, including Great Basin Mosaic, Nevada’s Environmental Legacy: Progress or Plunder, The Silver State: Nevada’s Heritage Reinterpreted (now in its 3rd edition), Reinventing the System: Higher Education in Nevada, 1968-2000.
 
Cheryll Glotfelty is an English professor at the University of Nevada, Reno and editor of Literary Nevada: Writings from the Silver State. She became chair of the University of Nevada, Reno Arboretum Board in 2014, and since then has become obsessed by trees and passionate about the arboretum.
 
Rod Haulenbeek, also known as "The Tree Hunter," spent a 20-year career in the oil industry. Since then he has published two books about trees, is heavily involved in the Nevada Big Tree Program, and has completed tree inventories for the Nevada Division of Forestry of over 15,000 trees with over 200 species. His certifications include Master Gardener, Tree Worker, Arborist, and Tree Risk Assessment.