Keeper Trout (aka "Trout", "K. Trout", and "Keeper of the Trout") is an independent scholar and author. Although his university education in Texas focused on chemistry and microbiology, for the past two decades he has been studying altered states of consciousness, while compiling, cataloging, commenting on, and researching psychoactive plants. He has written and published numerous densely informative pamphlets and books on these topics, as part of his "Trout's Notes" series.

In 1995 and 1996, Trout penned the advice column "Ask Barney" (under the pseudonym "Barney Heffter") for the final two issues (#8 and #9) of the fringe magazine Crash Collusion. From 1998 until its demise in 2008, he acted as Technical Editor for The Entheogen Review and its sister publication in Germany, Entheogene Blätter, which was published between 2002 and 2007.

Trout has spoken at festivals worldwide, including Consciousness Technologies, Exodus (NSW), Entheogenesis Australis, Symbiosis, the Women's Visionary Congress, and numerous smaller gatherings. Since 2006, he has produced an annual invitational symposium focused on the topic of cacti. He is known for his contagious enthusiasm, willingness to help answer questions, and encyclopedic knowledge related to psychoactive plants and drugs. He is also an avid photographer, mycophile, and botanist. Trout has been actively involved as a volunteer with the Cactus Conservation Institute since 2004 assisting with web design, as well as photo documentation and other field work