 Nathan Varley
Nathan grew up in Yellowstone National Park in a small village called Mammoth Hot Springs. His parents, biologists and park rangers, lived in the park for three decades. Following in their footsteps, Nathan studied biology at Montana State University; earning a B. S. and M. S. degree in wildlife. He is currently working on his doctorate degree in animal behavior. He conducted field research on mountain goats in Wyoming, moose in Alaska, guanacos in Patagonia, and pine martens in Idaho. But, his path always led home to Yellowstone where he did research on coyotes, bears, river otters and gray wolves. He worked as an assistant producer on numerous film documentaries done by National Geographic and Landis Films on wildlife in Yellowstone, including Return of the Wolf, the Otters of Yellowstone and the Living Eden: Yellowstone. In addition he was involved in media productions for Nature, Time, BBC, and the Jason Project. These films are often shown on public television.
He was part of the original research team for the Gray Wolf Recovery Project at Yellowstone. His study of gray wolves included tracking and behavioral observations, ground radio-telemetry, capture and handling, plus guiding and interpreting wolf activity for visitors. He wrote the Naturalist & Guide for the Yellowstone Association Institute and created the Yellowstone Wolf Tracker magazine which chronicles the adventures of wolf watching.
Nathan plans to forever explore Yellowstone's grandeur, seeking insight to the mysteries of its wildlife and landscape. Ultimately, Nathan wishes to champion a land ethic policy that places the highest value on our wildlife and their habitats, and in so doing, forever preserve the places that have provided his life's inspiration.
Linda Thurston
Linda Thurston has been involved for over four years with the Yellowstone Gray Wolf Recovery Project, participating in capture, handling gray wolves and conducting predator-prey research. Linda spends long hours watching wolves at observation sites with high-powered scopes examining how they live; in particular, she has collected data over three seasons focusing on wolf denning behavior.
Ms. Thurston received a B.S. degree in 1995 from the University of California at San Diego in Ecology. Her experiences include studying Amazon parrots, black iguanas in Costa Rica, and coyotes in Wyoming. Currently she is pursuing a master’s degree from Texas A&M University in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, with an emphasis in animal behavior. Her life goal is to pursue the study of animal behavior Her writings include Yellowstone Wolves: Predation , A History of the Rose Creek Wolf Pack, and A History of the Crystal Creek Wolf Pack. |
