Carter County Geological Society Meetings

Paul L. Hedren

Paul L. Hedren is a retired National Park Service historian and superintendent whose thirty-seven-year career led him from Minnesota to Wyoming, Montana, Utah, North Dakota, and Nebraska. He’s also a life-long student of the Great Sioux War, and a prolific writer. His many books and articles have received numerous honors, including a Spur Award from the Western Writers of America, a Western Heritage Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, and multiple Best Book awards from the Little Big Horn Associates. His life-long labors in history were acknowledged in 2022 by the John G. Neihardt Foundation with a prestigious Word Sender Award. A firm believer in the notion of landscapes as books, Hedren can commonly be found exploring the trails, battlefields, back corners, and sacred sites of that intriguing 1870s Indian war, and when not in the field resides in Omaha, Nebraska.  

Amanda Hall

Amanda Hall is the non-game biologist for Region 7, Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. She leads the ever-popular summer bat walks for the Carter County Museum at Medicine Rocks State Park. 

Allen Morris Jones

Montana's 2025-27 Poet Laureate  

Widely published across genres and forms, Allen Morris Jones is the author of three novels, three children’s books, a highly regarded look at the ethics of hunting, an award-winning collection of poetry, and more than 100 published personal essays, profiles, short stories, and other incidental pieces. His first novel, Last Year’s River, was selected by Barnes and Noble for its Discover Great New Writers program; his second novel, A Bloom of Bones, was recognized as a Montana Book Award honor book. His recent poetry collection, Mumblecusser, was both a High Plains Book Award winner as well as a Montana Book Award honor book. His first children’s book, Montana for Kids, won a Spur Award from the Western Writers of America. With William Kittredge, he edited The Best of Montana’s Short Fiction. He has worked as a magazine editor (Big Sky Journal), as an acquisitions editor (Lyons Press / Globe Pequot Press), small press publisher (Bangtail Press), and as a Communications Director for Montana State University. A graduate of the University of Montana in Missoula and Livingston’s Park High, he currently lives in Bozeman with his wife and teenage son.

LAUREN HUNLEY

Lauren E. Hunley has spent nearly 20 years in the museum field. Earning her Master of Arts in Learning & Visitor Services in Museums and Galleries through Leicester University in England, she’s worked for both small museums and national museum service organizations. She is the author of 101 Museum Programs on a Shoestring Budget and has presented at numerous museum conferences. She is currently the Community Historian at the Western Heritage Center in Billings, Montana, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Mountain-Plains Museums Association.

Kurt Hansen

Kurt Hansen is the District Ranger responsible for oversight of all activities on the Sioux Ranger District of the Gallatin National Forest. He has written several articles on native plants in Montana and South Dakota. 

Stew Cook

Stew Cook is the Paleontology Field & Lab Manager at Carter County Museum. He grew up in Ekalaka, Montana, where he began working as a volunteer at the CCM designing exhibits, managing volunteers in the lab, leading field camps, and liaising with local landowners. In 2021, he graduated with a B. S. in Paleontology with minors in Museum Studies and Entomology from Montana State University. His thesis research focused on amber from the Hell Creek Formation and how the insect communities of the time were affected by the Cretaceous-Paleogene Mass Extinction.

Dr. Nathan Carroll

Dr. Nathan Carroll is the Carter County Museum's Curator of Paleontology and a founder of the Annual Dino Shindig event. Nathan received a B.S. in Earth Sciences from Montana State University, where he studied pterosaurs. His doctoral thesis at the Earth Science Department at the University of Southern California focused on flight-feather evolution studying three-dimensional amber, coprolites, and lithic fossils. 

Amanda Williams

Amanda Williams is the Extension Agent for Carter County, Montana. Amanda received her Bachelor's degree in Animal Science with a minor in Natural Resources and Rangeland Management from Montana State University in 2018. Undergraduate research experiences at MSU and USDA-ARS Fort Keogh in Miles City sparked her interested in graduate school, and she finished her Master's Degree in Animal and Range Science at MSU in 2020. Her research project evaluated the effects of the Lodgepole Complex Wildfire, specifically the recovery and effects of grazing on the vegetative community. Following graduate school, she worked at Fort Keogh on various projects, including a drought and grazing study, and taught classes online at Miles Community College. She became the Extension Agent for Fallon and Carter Counties in 2021, and for Carter County in 2024.  

TBA

TBA