I am an avid outdoorsman and educator, naturalist and researcher. I believe in the importance of providing direct, authentic connection with the natural world through education, research, conservation, advocacy, and film.

As the Principal Investigator for the GSE Cougar Project, I’m working to better understand the elusive predators that call the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument home. As the narrator and host for award-winning documentaries and series, I work to share the secrets and wonder of nature through honest and engaging stories. And as the co-founder of the Montana Folk School, I offer a wide range of traditional skills classes for the public to fostering deep nature connection.

Traditional knowledge is all about connection; to the skills, to the ancestors, to the world within. From childhood, the natural world has been my sanctuary. I hungered for a path that brought a feeling of belonging in wild places. Over a lifetime of study, I have found that path.

With my research, I explore a passion for tracking mountain lions. And for over a decade, I have pioneered noninvasive practices to follow populations over time and tell their stories. My work led to the award-winning documentaries, ‘Tracking Notes: The Secret World of Mountain Lions’ and ‘Willow: Diary of a Mountain Lion’ on PBS Nature.

To be a tracker is to live in an ever-unfolding present moment moving across time and landscapes. As famed tracker Boyd Varty says, ‘We are a species that belongs within stories. We are the meaning-making animal. Tracking is a narrative that can help us reimagine why we are here.’