BWHT Board and Bios
Martin Kubik - President
Martin Kubik is a lifelong advocate for wilderness trails in the BWCA and received several national and local environmental awards. He founded the 3M Outdoor Club, the Kekekabic Trail Club, the Boundary Waters Advisory Committee (BWA Committee), and most recently, the Boundary Waters Heritage Trails. When the Kekekabic and the Powwow trails were abandoned, Martin led scores of volunteers in a successful effort to bring them back. Thanks to that effort, outdoor enthusiasts can now enjoy unparalleled solitude in the wild. Now retired from 3M Co. where he worked as a digital printing consultant, he devotes his time enjoying outdoors as well as gardening and sewing outdoor gear on vintage sewing machines.
Neil Jeddeloh - Vice-President
Neil Jeddeloh developed his passion for the outdoors through the Boy Scouts, where he attained Eagle rank. His first Boundary Waters experience was in high school, and he has continued to take yearly trips for the past forty years. These Boundary Waters trips have often included day hikes on the Powwow Trail. Since the Pagami Creek fire of 2011 he has participated in several clearing trips of the Powwow Trail. Neil is retired from medical practice and now has more time to pursue his interests in the history and preservation of the Boundary Waters trails.
neil.jeddeloh@bwheritagetrails.org
Tiffinie Ellis - Secretary
Tiffanie Ellis, is a middle school teacher in Duluth and an outdoor enthusiast. She has worked as a volunteer for the BWA Committee, was a core member of the Duluth Chapter of BWAC, and served as a volunteer maintenance crew leader on many trips. Tiffanie has spent countless hours hiking, backpacking, camping, and canoeing, many of which in the BWCAW. Outside of teaching, you can find Tiffanie on various adventures -spring, summer, fall and winter- embracing the challenges of the elements and exploring the unknown.
tiffanie.ellis@bwheritagetrails.org
Nirmal Jain - Treasurer
Nirmal first volunteered on a trail clearing trip with the University of MN Rovers in early 60’s and was enchanted by the pristine wilderness, serenity and tranquility of the BWCAW. Later, Nirmal co- founded the Kekekabic Trail Club (KTC) in 1990 and in 2002, the Boundary Waters Advisory Committee (BWAC).
Nirmal has been active in supporting and maintaining the hiking trails in the BWCAW. He has volunteered on multiple trail clearing trips with the KTC and BWAC.
Nirmal Jain is a retired engineer from the University of MN and 3M.
Nirmal likes to travel and hiking. Nirmal is a private pilot and enjoys music, opera, and woodworking.
Ken Hupila - Special Projects Coordinator
Ken Hupila grew up and lived in Northern Minnesota for most of his life. He moved to the Ely area in 1978 and has been a resident here since. Ken is an educator, having taught in the Ely School System for 33 years. He is an outdoor adventurer who has canoed, camped, hunted and fished from Alaska to Minnesota, including a 500-mile, 27-day paddle on the Albany River to Hudson Bay in 2006. He has been a wilderness guide for over 40 years in the BWCA and Superior National Forest. He became a professional photographer in 2001, specializing the past five years in outdoor photography. Recently he entered the writing world as an outdoor author covering topics such as his guiding experiences, his trip to Hudson Bay as well as personal wilderness trips that he has taken into the backcountry.
He writes weekly articles that can be seen in the Ely Echo Newspaper, Ely, Minnesota