Joe Kreuzman, Weasel Tracking & Fisher Research
Executive Director, Senior Instructor
Joe Kreuzman is the founder and Director of Nature Awareness and Wilderness Sports Programs and Coyote Trails School of Nature. He has dedicated his career to the teaching, training and mentoring of thousands of students in the arts of tracking, awareness and backcountry wilderness ethics. Having taught students of all ages internationally, Joe has honed his ability to connect individually with his students no matter their age, experience or background. Born in Ohio and schooled through extensive wilderness immersion Joe draws upon his vast and diverse experiential knowledge and training.
Always an outdoor enthusiast, Joe began imprinting on nature at an early age and fondly recalls his first backcountry trip at age 7. He is a graduate of Southern Oregon University and attended Miami University where he studied Business Administration, Space Physics, Bio- Physics and Cellular Biology. Joe worked for the Rogue River National Forest – City of Ashland Watershed and later for the National Parks and Conservation Association in Washington, D.C. He brings 15 years of business experience as both manager and buyer for Benchmark Outdoor Outfitters in Columbus, Ohio and Adventure Outfitters in Ft. Collins, Colorado. While managing the ski department at REI in Seattle Washington, he helped form the mountaineering and crevasse rescue team and later in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado he volunteered for Larimer County Search and Rescue where he honed his passion for tracking.
Joe blends his business expertise with his leadership experience guiding clients in such diverse ecosystems as the Trinity Alps Wilderness- California, The Gila Wilderness Area – New Mexico, Indian Peaks Wilderness Area- Colorado, Indian Heaven Wilderness and Glacier Peak Wilderness Areas- Washington, Sisters Wilderness and Diamond Peaks Wilderness- Oregon, Timbavati Preserve- South Africa and Cockscomb Jaguar Preserve- Belize, Central America.
He presently holds a a Tracker Level III Certification in South Africa, a Level III Trailing Certification and a Level II Track and Sign Interpretation Certificate from CyberTracker International in North America. Joe is a nationally Certified Emergency Medical Technician, an OIE Tracking Instructor, and a former adjunct faculty member teaching tracking at the University of Vermont in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology, Environmental Sciences & Forestry Departments. He has trained at Tom Browns’ Tracking and Wilderness Survival School and is a founding member of Team Benchmark Adventure Racing completing three 60 mile wilderness adventure races to date and has been a Certified Open Water Scuba Diver since 1981.
Forever living the Tracker-Point-of-View, Joe is presently studying the interconnection between Physics, the Science of Consciousness and Nonlinear Dynamics. He has been instructing backcountry wilderness ethics since 1997.