Education: Evergreen State College, B.A., Environmental Studies and Biology

Born and raised in Costa Rica, Chris is a widely traveled biologist, naturalist, illustrator, and environmental educator. He is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, and before graduating from college he gave presentations on wildlife with various Costa Rican conservation groups and worked as a naturalist for the Organization for Tropical Studies’ La Selva and Las Cruces biological research stations. He also worked as a research technician for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, collecting data on habitat conditions and performing radio-telemetry surveys for the northern spotted owl project. Chris has co-taught field ecology courses in Belize and Guatemala for the Sierra Institute, formerly at Humboldt State University. He co-authored two books on Costa Rican natural reserves, and natural history comic strips that appeared in The Tico Times newspaper and in one issue of Ranger Rick Magazine. Other projects included illustrations on field guides and wildlife coloring books. More recently, he worked as the Outreach Coordinator at Wolf Haven International, educating about wolves and big carnivores. Chris currently works as Education Coordinator at Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary (part of Mass Audubon), creates educational material for the Wolf Education and Research Center, and teaches as local naturalist for the Biomimicry 3.8 Institute’s courses in Costa Rica. Chris has led Putney Student Travel and National Geographic programs to Namibia, Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands, the Pacific Northwest, Australia, Brazil, Belize, the Canadian Arctic, and Botswana.