Bryan Bearss, 38, was born and raised in Michigan. He received his B.S. in Outdoor Education from Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, in 2000. He first became interested in mushing when he took a dog mushing class while attending Northland College. After graduation, he taught at a residential treatment center in Minnesota and a residential environmental education camp in southern Michigan. He moved to Alaska in the summer of 2002 for a summer job doing dog mushing tours with Jeff King at Husky Homestead. He continued his schooling in Alaska, attending Alaska Pacific University and getting K-8 teaching certification, and then he went on to University of Alaska Anchorage to receive an M.E. in Educational Leadership. He’s been a teacher in Anchorage for the last seven years. He notes that he became hooked on mushing after training dogs with Bob Bundtzen, Zack Steer and Jeff King. He ran his first Iditarod in 2006. Bryan says, “After a seven year semi-retirement from mushing, I am back to provide a positive learning experience for a team of amazing dogs for Karin Hendrickson and her Blue on Black Kennel.”