We will also be partnering with Dave Moskowitz by culminating our program with a field evaluation and certification of all that you’ve learned and discovered throughout this course.  Learn more about this capstone by clicking here. More info about Cybertracker and the certification program, can be found at TrackerCertification.com. 

Program Details

Dates:
October 11 — evening presentation
October 12 and 13
November 9 and 10  
December 14 and 15
February 8 and 9 
March 8 and 9
April 12 and 13
May 24 and 25 — Cybertracker evaluation with David Moskowitz

Tuition:
$2195

Ages:
18+, or 16+ with parent enrollment

Locations:
Various locales on the Olympic Peninsula

Matt Mahan

Matt became involved with the Olympic Cougar Project several years ago when he lost some livestock to a cougar. Making the choice to kill the cougar and save his sheep weighed heavy on him. Wanting to find different ways to be a better steward of land and wildlife while raising animals, he reached out to Dr. Mark Elbroch for some solutions. They began setting up cellular game cameras and monitoring the area and quickly found out that it was a major wildlife corridor that cougars visited frequently. In a two-year period they had 60+ cougar visits. They were able to collar some of these cougars for the Olympic Cougar Project.

Matt was soon hired by Panthera to manage a camera grid in Jefferson County. He also visits clusters and documents kill sites/bed sites. Additionally, he assists a local filmmaker with camera trapping for a documentary on the project. Matt continues to learn about tracking and trailing as well as ways to protect our apex predators while sharing the land with them.

Scott Brinton

Scott believes the best way to honor our life is to learn as much about the natural world where we reside. Wildlife tracking is an integral part of reading our landscape. He obtained a Masters in Natural History and Education and became an instructor for the Wilderness Awareness School. From 2005-2010 he worked seasonally on a citizen science project collaborating with the Nez Perce tribe in Idaho using track and sign to monitor wolf populations. He currently lends his local knowledge to the Olympic Cougar project. He also serves as the Executive Director of CedarRoot School, where he has taught and organized youth and adult programs teaching hundreds of participants the art of tracking and wilderness skills.  

David Moskowitz

David works in the fields of photography, wildlife biology and education. He is the photographer and author of three books: Caribou Rainforest, Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest and Wolves in the Land of Salmon and co-author and photographer of Peterson’s Field Guide to North American Bird Nests. He has contributed his technical expertise to a wide variety of wildlife studies regionally and in the Canadian and U.S. Rocky mountains, focusing on using tracking and other non-invasive methods to study wildlife ecology and promote conservation.

David holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies and Outdoor Education from Prescott College. David is certified as a Track and Sign Specialist, Trailing Specialist, and Senior Tracker through Cybertracker Conservation and is an Evaluator for this rigorous international professional certification program.

davidmoskowitz.net

Dr. Mark Elbroch

Mark is a scientist, tracker, writer, and storyteller. His current position is Lead Scientist for the Puma Program for Panthera (www.panthera.org), a global nonprofit focused on wild cat conservation. His research on mountain lions is contributing radical changes to what we thought we knew about the species, especially with regards to their social lives and their keystone roles in ecosystems.

Mark was awarded a Senior Tracker Certificate by CyberTracker Conservation in Kruger National Park, South Africa, after successfully following lions across varied terrain. His certificate was the 17th ever awarded and the first to a non-African. Mark received an honorary Master Tracker Certificate in 2015 for significant contributions to the conservation of tracking knowledge and the trackers themselves. He has also authored 10 books on natural history, including several field guides to animal tracking that won National Outdoor Book Awards.

markelbroch.com