Our Guides
As a guide owned and operated company, we know how important our guides are to the quality of our safaris. We pride ourselves on hiring the most talented and experienced local guides in order to provide the best wildlife safaris and photo tours available.The first thing we look for in a guide is a strong passion for Jackson Hole, Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks along with a desire to share that passion you. Passion is a large part of what makes a guide great but a depth of knowledge about the Greater Yellowstone Area is also crucial for us to provide expert interpretation during your safari. This requires our guides to have a deep understanding of the history, ecology, geology, geography and wildlife of both national parks and over 10 million acres known as the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Though most of us have college degrees, no degree in the world can fully prepare someone to be a Jackson Hole Wildlife Safari guide. Developing a deep understanding and love for this area requires years of hiking remote trails, climbing peaks, floating rivers, discovering secret trout filled pools, skiing the backcountry and tracking wildlife deep into the forest. We believe that nothing is more valuable than first hand experience and observation when it comes to learning and teaching. Good guides tend to be energetic, curious, highly intelligent and continuously studious (It never ceases to amaze me that 20 year veteran guides buy more books than our guests!) Lastly, a good guide will intuitively calibrate their guiding style during your safari to focus more time on your areas of interest. Unlike a canned tour where the so called ‘guide’ just says and points out the same things day after day, our guides will engage you in a rolling discussion about what you are seeing, stories about the area and an insider’s perspective on current local events. Please check out our bios below and feel free to request any of us on your safari if you see someone that might fit your personality and life experience.
Jason Williams
Jason is the owner/operator of Jackson Hole Wildlife Safaris. He has been guiding float trips, snowmobile tours and wildlife safaris in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem for 13 years. His field of experience includes scuba diving, caving, rock climbing, backpacking, backcountry skiing, canoeing, sailing, snowmobiling, and whitewater rafting. Jason has a B.S. Degree in Geography and is a professional wildlife photographer and freelance writer. Publications include the Washington Post, Frommers, Powder Magazine, the Teton Journal and the Jackson Hole Explorer magazine. See some of Jason’s work at www.JasonWilliamsPhoto.com.
Kyle Williams
Kyle has been guiding float trips, snowmobiles and wildlife safaris in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem for 10 years. Before moving to Jackson Hole a decade ago, Kyle was an accomplished outdoor educator in both the St Louis and Washington DC areas. When he is not entertaining and educating his clients, he can probably be found fishing a secret trout filled stream or running Class IV rapids with his beautiful wife Tracey.
Tom VanZant
Tom is one of the most experienced guides working in Jackson Hole. He has been guiding wildlife safaris, snowmobiles, fishing trips and pack trips into Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park and Bridger-Teton National Forest since 1987. Tom loves American history and specializes in the history of Jackson Hole and Yellowstone. When not guiding Tom stays busy as the owner/operator of Hawk’s Rest Ranch, where he boards and trains horses. This year you will find Tom in uniform serving Yellowstone as an interpretive ranger, a dream job that we couldn’t refuse him!
Dave Green
We were lucky enough to find Dave after returning to Jackson Hole after a 6 year adventure teaching science and math in remote Inuit villages in Alaska. Dave is going on his 15th year guiding in the Greater Yellowstone area, including 13 years as a river guide on the Snake River through Grand Teton National Park. He has a bachelors in education from Indiana University, has volunteered with the Jackson Hole Historical Society and assisted with archaeological digs in the area. He is an avid outdoorsman with descents of dozens of western and Alaskan rivers under his belt. Dave’s knowledge and experience in Jackson Hole combined with his training as a teacher make him a great resource to anyone traveling with him on safari.
Mike Cavaroc
Mike moved to Jackson Hole in 2008 to pursue a career as a professional wildlife and nature photographer. Since then he has explored hundreds of square miles of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in search of wildlife and interesting scenery to capture with is camera. With an endless curiosity about the area, he avidly hikes and backpacks throughout the surrounding mountains, hauling one or both of his DSLR cameras along every trek. With a Master of Fine Arts, Mike has made great use of his artistic background by sharing his vision of the natural world through his photography and writing. His work has been seen in magazines ranging from local non-profit publications to National Geographic Traveler, Outdoor Photographer, and more. His passion for the Tetons, its wild inhabitants, and various other regions can be seen on his website at www.FreeRoamingPhotography.com
Roger Hayden
Roger is a tremendous resource having lived in and explored the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem for over 20 years. He has a BA in journalism with a minor in environmental science from Western Washington University, worked as a full time journalist for over 12 years and was one of the first people to report on the endangered Northern Spotted Owl. He is an experienced outdoorsman, mountaineer, and skier and has traveled extensively in the US, Mexico, and Europe. Roger has been a semi-professional photographer for over 10 years with a specialty in finding a photographing Grizzlies. He is currently working in conjunction with the Wyoming Wetland Society to document the recovery of the region’s Trumpeter Swan population in addition to working to eliminate wolf trapping.
Cathy Aronson
Cathy is long time resident of Jackson, WY. and is one of our photography safari instructors. In the late 1970s, Cathy got her first SLR (single lens reflex camera) thus beginning her life-long love of outdoor photography. As an avid hiker and backpacker, Cathy thrives on capturing the beauty and special moments of the natural world. Her passion for nature photography led to her digital printing and photography business, Daydream Imagery. Cathy has studied photography and printing technique with Marc Muench, David Muench, Len Rue Jr., and Craig Tanner.
Seth Heeter
We literally hired Seth off the street; or actually more like an inaccessible dirt road in the national park. We just kept seeing and hearing about Seth in the field and had to hire him. Seth has a B.S. in Geography and a B.S. in environmental studies from the University of Wisconsin. He is also a professional photographer, an eagle scout and an experienced environmental educator with a passion for the geology, history and the biology of NW Wyoming. Seth is an avid outdoorsman and can be found on his days off hiking, skiing, scuba diving, playing golf and volunteering overseas. Ironically, Seth never really planned to remain in the Tetons, but during one of his many travels, he spent two days here and decided not to leave!
Jenny Fitzgerald
We are excited to have Jenny on our team this year! Jenny earned her undergraduate degree at Cornell University with a major in Natural Resources and a minor in Animal Science. Intent on working in the field of wildlife conservation (and looking for a change of scenery!) she left her job at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and headed west. We first met her here in her role as a Bear Management Ranger in Grand Teton National Park. Though she only intended to stay in Jackson a few weeks as a volunteer on a mountain lion research project, she continues to live and work in Jackson today. Jenny enjoys most outdoor sports including: hiking, backpacking, climbing, rowing, rafting, snowboarding, and biking. She believes the best way to inspire and teach conservation is through enthusiastic educational experiences for people of all ages, and she truly enjoys exposing people to what she loves most: wildlife!
Tom Burgess
Tom’s resume speaks for itself! He has been a wildlife guide, interpretive ranger and resident in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem for over 10 years. He has worked as an Interpretive Park Ranger for the National Park Service for over 20 years – 10 of which serving both Grand Teton (7 years) and Yellowstone National Parks (3 years). He has also worked as an Interpretive Ranger in Sequoia/Kings Canyon, Yosemite, and Death Valley National Parks. Tom has a BS in Natural Resources-Interpretation from Humboldt State University and has worked with the Jackson Parks and Recreation Program after school program for several years. Tom is passionate about educating visitors to the area in order to create a deep passion to preserve the open spaces around Jackson Hole. Between seasons every year he loves to travel and visit, you guessed it, lots of National Parks.