TESTIMONIALS

TEACHING

Each day in the forest with Kathy is rich with nature’s surprises and delights. Kathy’s depth of experience-based knowledge is tremendous. Her gentle, mischievous, open-hearted teaching make for a fun, focused, committed group. Definitely recommend whether you are new to tracking or honing your skills!

Cheryl Dziura-Duke, Women's Wildlife Tracking Intensive participant

Being in a group of experienced and highly motivated trackers while under Kathy’s expert guidance was one of the richest learning experiences I’ve ever had! Kathy extensive knowledge, kindness, and deep passion make her an excellent mentor. Anyone looking to deepen their connection to the natural world will thrive in her programs!

Jay Comstock, Tracking to a New Level Intensive participant, Certified Track & Sign Professional, TCNA

Kathy is a fantastic teacher that welcomes you into the world of wildlife with endless curiosity and deep knowledge of the natural world. This tracking intensive has brought so much value to any time I spend in the woods or in the dirt and has turned me into a tracker for life. The opportunity to spend so much time being curious about things in nature with a group of like-minded women while being guided by such a warm, passionate, and expert mentor is a truly incredible experience.

Liz Muntean, Women's Wildlife Tracking Intensive participant, Track & Sign Level II Certification, TCNA

I have taken the Women's Wildlife Tracking Intensive for three consecutive years because the depth and range of Kathy Dean's teaching and the outdoor classroom she creates provides infinite learning and connection. Time with Kathy gets me out of my head and into my body and spirit in relationship with the natural world.

Tamsin Flanders, Women's Tracking Intensive, Tracking to a New Level and Hitchcock Center program participant

So happy for the brilliant and wonderful work that Kathy offers! In this time of so much imbalance in both the natural environment and the human environment, her presence as a teacher with such deep listening to what is here is more important than ever.

Nancy Edwards, Wildlife Tracking and Birding by Ear programs participant, custom birding program participant

I have so much gratitude for you all and especially Kathy for this awesome tracking intensive. It really did bring me to a new level and it helped break my hesitancy around Feathers, Nests, Nut Feeding, and Herp track and sign. I feel way more confident with my tracking skillset because I got so much time to learn, debate, observe and grow as a wildlife tracker!

Kyle Ball, Tracking to a New Level participant, Certified Track & Sign Professional, New England Wildlife Tracking

I have spent magical days in the woods with Kathy learning how to gently interrogate animal tracks and signs. Since then,, walking through my own backyard and nearby conservation land has come alive. Kathy's way of teaching, to let the animals themselves 'show and tell' and to stimulate our imagination and humility by asking questions and opening our senses, is the perfect invitation to connect more deeply with all my relations.

Dorian Gregory, Women's Wildlife Tracking Intensive participant

BEYOND AWESOME!! I have learned things in Kathy’s wildlife tracking intensive that have sparked my curiosity for years. Her deep knowledge, wisdom and respect for nature allows students to absorb and discover the worlds of our wild animal neighbors.

Cindy Fisher, Women's Wildlife Tracking Intensive participant

Kathy is an extremely knowledgeable tracker, a skilled and thoughtful teacher, and an incredibly kind person. I have attended many of her programs and every time I learn something new. Her mentorship was pivotal in helping me reach my Professional certification in track and sign. What I most appreciate about her teaching style is her skill at answering questions by guiding you to the answer yourself. I have recommended and will continue to recommend friends, family, and trackers of all skill levels to her programs!

Robin Chandler, Tracking to a New Level, Winter Tracking Immersion participant, Certified Track & Sign Professional

My connection to the natural world has deepened significantly by working with Kathy. She is a knowledgeable, sensitive, deeply-connected, and reverent soul. She is a gift and my gratitude for her runs deep.

Amy Shamansky, Women's Wildlife Tracking Intensive participant, custom program participant, Who's Hiding illustrator

Kathy possesses a special skill of teaching complex topics to many different stages of learners. Her Women's Tracking Intensive is an immersive and experiential opportunity to become closer to the natural world and be surrounded by a small, amazing group of people. This course uses the "observe and ask questions before naming" practice of wildlife tracking, creating a unique and concrete analysis to your final identification. I highly recommend the Women's Tracking Intensive and any outing with Kathy, as she creates an inclusive and welcoming environment.

Audrey Boraski, Women's Wildlife Tracking Intensive and Hitchcock Center for the Environment participant

Kathy’s teachings have transformed my understanding of the natural world and of my place in it.

Lynn Perry, Women's Wildlife Tracking Intensive, Vermont Wilderness School, and Women & Trees programs participant

Kathy's level of expertise is unbelievable!! But perhaps more than that is her process, her ability to see and decipher, that astounds me most and makes her a great naturalist and instructor.

Janice Sorenson, Women's Wildlife Tracking Intensive participant

MAMMAL BEHAVIOR GUIDE

From daily feeding habits to seasonal highlights in the rounds of reproduction, this guide answers vital questions that wildlife trackers and field ecologists are always asking about mammals and the habitats on which they depend. For anyone keen to learn what shapes the existence of New England mammal species, this pocketable trove of behavioral insights is a resource worth returning to again and again and again.

Rob Rich, Field Ecologist, Instructor with Swan Valley Connections, Certified Track & Sign Specialist, TCNA

This field guide is the first thing I check for in my backpack before heading into the woods. It holds nearly the equivalent of information for our region found in my 3 pound mammal behavior book that I now gladly leave behind, The layout is genius. Open it anywhere and each species is contained neatly in the two opposing pages. A wonderful tool for learning, I hand these beautiful pocket guides out to each of my new students.

Andrews "Bones" Nelson, Certified Track & Sign Professional, TCNA

What an incredible book. In my own tracking pursuits, I have found the animal’s natural history to be central to everything as I follow the trails. This is such a good idea – and so cleanly laid out – and of course the perfect size. This is what it’s all about! Knowing our wild neighbors in the context of their own environment and the seasons. I love it and of course will be passing this along as a gift to a few folks I know – as well as referring many to it.

Josh Wood, tracking instructor with Flying Deer Nature Center

Happily I join the ranks of authentic applause and JOY in possessing your new pocket guide. It delivers a portable plethora of information on mammal behavior in an easy-to-access format. It's like a tiny explosion of firework revelations and reinforcements for us nature lovers and wildlife devotees. I love this thing!

Lori Williams, Women's Wildlife Tracking Intensive and Vermont Wilderness School tracking programs participant

Kathy Dean's Abbreviated Field Guide to Mammal Behavior is a delightful book that is already teaching me things about even well known species -- like the reason why chipmunks sing a morning song -- and it's small enough to slip into a day pack, in case you see sign of common or unusual creatures while out on the trail and want to learn more.

Erik Hoffner, environmental journalist with Mongabay News

I love your book! I bring it with me to my programs regularly. The kids love the illustrations, and especially love the silhouettes-size comparison – the young ones like to guess who the animals are and they pretty much learned them all (even the ones they hadn’t heard of) in a couple of weeks.

Caitlin Horigan, founder of White Ash Learning Cooperative