Fox Paw School

05/25/2026

This spring I went on Tracking the Kalahari's trip to Namibia. Our time spent building connections with the Ju/'hoan Bushmen community, and tracking with the traditional master trackers, truly changed the way I look at tracking here in North America.

I cannot recommend this trip highly enough for anyone looking to deepen their tracking practice.

05/25/2026

The certifications keep rolling in! Fox Paw School tracking alum Rose Richter recently earned her Professional certificate in Track & Sign.

It's been such a pleasure to watch Rose's endless curiosity and relaxed, confident approach to her tracking process. Well done, Rose.

Pic: Evaluator Daniel Hansche on left, Rose in center, and Tracker Certification North America operations director Sophie Mazowita on right.

05/20/2026

Two weeks ago, I posted congratulations to Fox Paw tracking alum Rachel Pelham for earning her first Specialist certification in track and sign in the desert southwest. Time for more kudos—she just got her second one.

Last week she earned a Specialist in the temperate forests of New England, along with five other people. That's her in the pic, center right, with evaluator Casey McFarland on the right, and evaluator Daniel Hansche on the left.

Congratulations are also due to newly minted Specialists Ana Maria Arroyo (center) and Maria Wesserle (center left). Way to go everyone!

05/04/2026

Big congratulations to Fox Paw tracking alum Rachel Pelham. After earning two professional certificates in track and sign in temperate regions of the continent, she earned her first specialist in the desert southwest. Nicely done!

Rachel has put in a huge amount of work, and it shows. Here she’s receiving her certificate with evaluator Jonah Evans (right) and external evaluator Casey McFarland (left).

05/01/2026

Last fall, I spent 3 months in Laos working to conserve the highly endangered saola. Check out this gorgeous new video of some of the places I went, and visit the Saola Foundation's website to learn more about this vital work.

05/01/2026

Fox Paw School tracking alum Audrey Dowell earned a level 3 certification in track and sign recently with Tracker Certification North America evaluator Daniel Hansche.

Audrey has been enamored of tracking and wildlife since I've known her, and it's been really fun and rewarding to watch her move up in the certifications. Congratulations Audrey!

04/30/2026

Congratulations to Fox Paw alum Jay Comstock (left, next to Tracker Certification North America evaluator Daniel Hansche) on his recent professional certification in track and sign.

Jay has put in a ton of dirt time, and it shows—he didn't miss a single question. It's awesome to see alums taking the field skills to the next level.

04/27/2026

This weekend in the SWTI Intensive, we got real deep into gaits. Gaits are foundational for understanding animal behavior in the field.

We started by watching slow motion videos of animals moving, drew the track patterns they left behind, and then acted out their gaits with our own bodies.

Out in the field, we spent hours marking out footfalls, talking about body mechanics, and discussing how to interpret animal behavior from gait and track pattern.

Pic: Diagramming a black-tailed jackrabbit trail. This animal was moving in a medium-speed asymmetrical gait. You could call it a lope, gallop, or bound—it doesn’t matter, as long as you understand what the trail means for the animal’s behavior

04/24/2026

Matt Nelson and I are presenting next Tuesday on our tracking conservation work in Laos—hope you can tune in.

Join us next Tuesday at 5 pm Pacific for an online event with Matt Nelson and Jonathan Shapiro: https://trackercertification.com/tracker-tuesdays

Deep in the heart of the Annamite mountains of Laos and Vietnam, a search is happening for perhaps the most highly endangered large mammal on earth. Join us to learn about how CyberTracker is teaming up with the Saola Foundation and indigenous people to find and protect this denizen of the deep jungle mountains.

02/01/2026

Laos saola conservation work, chapter 3.
Once we reached the end of the road system, we had a 2-day hike to reach our field sites. The Annamite Mountains are steep, the vegetation is thick, and there are few foot trails, so most of our travel was upriver.
Once we reached the field sites, the logistics teams would set up our base camps so we could do transect surveys looking for s**t to test for saola DNA.
Vid 1: The daily commute to our transects.
Vids 2-4: Moving camp was a major project. The physical abilities of the field team were impressive—they were able to navigate treacherous footing, swift water, and steep banks while carrying serious loads on their backs.