A taxidermist at Prey Taxidermy, Paloma Strong has apprenticed under Allis Markham for nine years. Starting as an intern at 16, Paloma has become a key collaborator at Prey. She placed 3rd in her division at the 2019 World Taxidermy Championships for her opossum mount. A biology graduate from Occidental College, Paloma specialized in ornithology and worked as a preparator and researcher in the Moore Lab of Zoology, assisting in teaching the taxidermy course at Occidental in 2019.
Cindy Opitz, Director of Research Collections at the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History oversees the curation, conservation, digitization, and management of 180,000+ zoological specimens. Ms. Opitz also trains and mentors collection interns and volunteers, teaches museum object preservation in the UI Museum Studies Certificate Program, and serves as a volunteer in the Iowa Museums, Archives, and Libraries Emergency Response Team and as a National Heritage Responder. She studied under Prey Taxidermy in 2023 and teaches specimen prep and taxidermy to University of Iowa students.