Behind the Pages

If you’ve ever called or stopped by the Northern Woodlands office, you’ve likely talked with Nancy Farwell, our circulation and advertising sales coordinator. Nancy manages our online sales and in-house shop, helps with circulation and development, and is the human of our office mascot, Percy the dog. She also designed and maintains our native pollinator garden at the Lyme office. During the production stage of each issue of the magazine, Nancy is a puzzle master, fitting scores of advertisements (seen here spread out on our conference room table), from small to full page, into the designated spaces in the magazine. We’re incredibly grateful to the advertisers who support our mission – and to Nancy for working with them to create an advertising mosaic that will catch readers’ eyes and complement our editorial content. Photo by Jackson Saul.

Dozens of people are involved in creating each issue of Northern Woodlands. These are a few of the contributors to the Summer 2025 magazine.

From left: Brent Haglund, Steve Keating, Ray Noll, and Rebecca Perkins Hanissian.

Brent Haglund, who photographed “The Incredible Intricacy of Butterfly Eggs” on page 12, is a graphic designer. He has lived in Arizona, California, and Minnesota and currently resides in Pembroke, New Hampshire. He enjoys traveling and has visited Chile, Singapore, and Europe, always with a camera at the ready. “I actively seek out the variety of flora and fauna,” he said. “My primary interest is in photographing nature’s tiny offerings, such as insects, slime molds or fungi, and occasionally even snowflakes. In the warmer months I also enjoy gardening, camping, and kayaking.” Check out his Instagram @bugs_birds_and_beyond. Photo courtesy of Brent Haglund.

Steve Keating, who wrote “Naming Conifers” in Knots & Bolts on page 26, is a teaching professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Penn State University. While his day job involves teaching microbiology and biochemistry, he is also drawn to history and forest ecology, and this is reflected in his recent book, Conifers of the New England – Acadian Forest: A Cultural History. His interest in conifers has been inspired and sustained by many trips to New England and by much time spent at Acadia National Park. Photo by Chris Keating.

Ray Noll illustrated “Largemouth in Coal Country” on page 48. He is a former art instructor at Penn State, Washington College, and Valdosta State University. Noll’s teaching reflected his experiences as an artist, art educator, graphic designer, and publications production editor for books and magazines. He attributes his love of drawing animals to wildlife illustrator Ned Smith, whose artwork appeared in Pennsylvania Game News, influencing the development of Noll’s personal style. Noll has studios in Cranston, Rhode Island, and Siena, Italy. Photo by Deb Marciano.

Rebecca Perkins Hanissian wrote “Sunshine House” (A Place in Mind, page 80). She is Northern Woodlands’ former editorial and outreach coordinator and a self-proclaimed forever fan of the organization. She continues to manage Northern Woodlands’ online Writers in the Woods series while spending as much time as possible traversing the landscape by foot, bike, and skinny skis with her family. She lives in Lyme, New Hampshire. Photo by Julia Gartner.