T. Scott Bryan was an employee of the National Park Service from 1970 through 1986, which included time as a park geologist in Death Valley and as a ranger-naturalist in Yellowstone. In addition to his interest in all aspects of Death Valley, he has studied geysers and has been to geyser fields throughout the contiguous United States, Mexico, Japan, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Valley of Geysers on the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia, leading the first-ever US study group there in 1991.

Betty Tucker-Bryan is the founder of the Death Valley Hikers Association and the California section of the Desert Trail Association. She has written numerous books and articles on the outdoors.