The People Behind Field Guide

Steve Amen (Executive Producer/Host)

Steve Amen has been with Oregon Public Broadcasting for more than 20 years. Prior to coming to OPB, he spent seven years in commercial news as a producer, reporter, executive producer and news director. Since joining OPB, Amen has headed up numerous documentary projects including the Oregon Story series and HBO's "Teen Killers: A Second Chance." His projects have received national and regional Emmys, as well as awards from CINE, The New York Film Festival and The American Film/Video Festival.

Jule Gilfillan (Producer)

Oregon native Jule Gilfillan joined the Oregon Field Guide team in early 2010 after several years working in Los Angeles as an award-winning independent director, producer and writer. Jule's credits include programs for NBC, MSNBC, HBO, Sundance, MTV, Planet Green, Discovery and others. Jule got her undergraduate degree in Asian Studies and lived in China for six years, then earned an MFA in film and TV production from USC's film school. An enthusiastic music lover, hiker and camper, Jule is delighted to be back in Oregon exploring the state's arts, culture and outdoors.

Ed Jahn (Producer)

Ed Jahn came to Oregon Field Guide in 2000 after several years at Rocky Mountain PBS in Denver. He has won 11 regional Emmy Awards for his work on Oregon Field Guide as well as the outdoor life program Spirit of Colorado. Ed won the duPont-Columbia Award for Journalism in 2008 for his work on The Silent Invasion and was twice awarded a Society of Environmental Journalists Award for "In-Depth Reporting on the Environment." He has been a fellow with the Institutes for Journalism and Natural Resources and is an avid bike commuter, gardener and lover of the backcountry.

Vince Patton (Producer/Reporter)

Vince Patton hit the ground running with Oregon Field Guide in 2007 after spending 27 years in television news in Denver, Wichita, Dallas and Portland. His work has received more than two dozen journalism honors including a national award from CINE, five national awards from the Society of Environmental Journalists and four regional Emmys. In 2003, he was one of a dozen U.S. journalists chosen for a prestigious Knight Wallace Fellowship for a year of study at the University of Michigan. Vince is an avid nature photographer whose images have won honors from the Oregon State Fair and the Oregonian and have been featured in OPB member guides and calendars. If you have questions or comments for Vince about his work on Oregon Field Guide, you can contact him via e-mail at vpatton@opb.org.

Todd Sonflieth (Senior Videographer/Editor)

Todd Sonflieth has been the OFG chief videographer since the inception of the show in 1988. He has shot and edited hundreds of Oregon Field Guide segments. Sonflieth also is credited with working on numerous OPB local and national productions. They include the Emmy Award-winning Oregon Story: Country Doctors, The Silent Invasion and the OPB/PBS series History Detectives. Oregon Splendor was produced by Sonflieth, and it continues to be very popular programming during OPB member drives.

Nick Fisher (Senior Videographer/Editor)

Emmy Award-winning videographer Nick Fisher began his journalism career as a news photographer, then joined OPB in 1996 as a videographer and editor for Oregon Field Guide. In addition to his work on OFG, he has shot many documentaries for OPB and PBS, including Lighthouses of Alaska, Great Lodges of the National Parks, Sinking the Lusitania, History Detectives and Time Team America. Nick especially loves doing stories in the backcountry and other remote locations.

Michael Bendixen (Senior Videographer/Editor)

Michael studied journalism and science at the University of Oregon and the University of Hawaii. He's worked for Oregon Sea Grant and NOAA and is passionate about shooting in inclement weather, hanging off rock walls, and deep underwater. Michael's an avid mountaineer, rock climber, scuba diver, river rafter, snow camper, and surfer.