Jonathan Hanson’s writing experience covers a diverse array of natural history and outdoor sports subjects and encompasses explorations on land and sea in North America, Europe, and Africa.  He is the author of a dozen books, several co-authored with his wife, Roseann. He has also written for nearly two dozen magazines, and was a correspondent for Outside Magazine. A Tucson native, his magazine article topics have ranged from African travel to natural history to outdoor equipment to guns to sailing. (Publications list) In spring 2007, he and three friends founded the Overland Journal, of which he is executive editor.

Jonathan has won several awards: the Arizona Press Club Award for natural history feature writing, the National Outdoor Book Award, and the National Park Service award for interpretive excellence. His book Outside Adventure Travel: Sea Kayaking was a finalist for the 7th Annual Banff Mountain Book Festival Adventure Travel Writing Award.

For several years Jonathan operated a sea kayak guide service, leading tours in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. He has taught a variety of subjects, including wildlife tracking, nature writing, and photography, for many conservation organizations. He is an elected Fellow of the Explorer’s Club.

Jonathan and Roseann live on a remote, off-the-grid  property 35 miles southwest of Tucson, Arizona, abutting half a million acres of wild lands and work together on numerous conservation projects.

Far left: With puff adder in Zambia.

Left: Quality time alone on an island at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

Roseann Hanson is a native of southern Arizona, and grew up in the rural Tanque Verde Valley east of Tucson.

She studied journalism and ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona, and has worked in the Southwest and Mexico as a conservationist, naturalist, writer, and marketing specialist for non-profits and small businesses for 25 years. Please see the Publications page for samples of her design and marketing work; download a full CV for Roseann here (PDF format).

With her husband, Jonathan, she has authored over a dozen natural history and outdoor books, including the Southern Arizona Nature Almanac and San Pedro River: A Discovery Guide. Their Ragged Mountain Guide to Outdoor Sports won the 1997 Outdoor Book Award and their 50 Common Reptiles was cited for Interpretive Excellence by the National Park Service in 1997. (Publications page, for full list.)

Roseann is also a lapidary and metalsmith, creating one-of-a-kind gemstone and precious metal jewelry. She has sold her creations under the name Desert Rose Design Studio online and at galleries throughout the West. Currently, because of her work as a business and non-profit consultant through her new LLC, ConserVentures, jewlerymaking is limited to custom orders and a small number of web sales.

ConserVentures clients include African Conservation Fund, South Rift Association of Land Owners, Uaso Ngiro Baboon Project, Overland Journal, and several other businesses and conservation efforts on strategic development and conservation business practices. She was also recently named a research fellow at the University of Arizona's Southwest Center.

Jonathan and Roseann are celebrating 25 years of marriage in 2009; they share their remote, off-the-grid property 35 miles southwest of Tucson, Arizona.