The Team

Roberta Kravette

Co-Founder, Nonprofit Liaison, Experience advisor, and Editor

Les and I created Destination: Wildlife because we are firm believers in the power of responsible tourism to enhance the traveler’s well-being and encourage understanding, respect, and a more inclusive world. For destinations, responsible tourism can create economic stability for local communities, provide a path for conserving natural habitats and wildlife, and be sustainable when all these criteria are reached. And for US 501c3 organizations, it can raise vital funding without creating doner fatigue.

We believe that responsible tourism is a force for good in the world.

Nonprofit Liaison: I work with conservation and community-missioned nonprofit organizations to develop tours and itineraries that engage their supporters and raise vital non-earmarked funds for their work. We use the same model that the World Wildlife Foundation, Smithsonian, and National Geographic have used for decades - reimagined to support local and regional nonprofits.

Experience Advisor: As a trained travel advisor, I am dedicated to ensuring that your trip is everything you want it to be and also good for the planet. Although we cannot guarantee any sighting of any animal at any time (wildlife is wild), I do guarantee that you will have sheets, plumbing, and a good meal at the end of the day! These are Unforgettable Journeys that Do Good.

Finally, as the Destination: Wildlife editor, I work with the Team and our contributors to ensure that our message is consistent with our core beliefs: Wildlife is wild, and viewing it responsibly helps the ecology, the people, and the planet.

Growing up in an urban environment, I came late to the world of wildlife viewing. So, one of my goals is to reach and encourage people like me who may not have had much prior opportunity to be in nature or with wildlife. That is why, along with options for the more experienced or adventurous, I also make sure there are many choices for the more … er… cautious among us (like me!) to embrace our amazing natural world.

I am a member of the Explorers Club and ASTA, the American Society of Travel Advisors..

Les Medley

Co-Founder, Operations Manager, Website Publisher

For our trips, I am in charge of operations: how, when and where. And I deal with all things technical, whether it is the correct equipment for a Himalayan trek or fixing a glitch in the website. I am also Calendar Tsar. When a deadline is met, it is because I am aware of the time (and day and week).

I spent my younger years in the West exploring the Sawtooth Mountains, the Tetons, and other Western U.S. mountain ranges with my Granddad. He somehow taught a boy who could not sit still for two minutes to “see” nature and to “read” animal tracks, weather, and water surface patterns. He taught me to build a fire without matches, the importance of a good knife, and a world of other wilderness skills - and he instilled lifelong respect for the wonder of it all. But it was my uncle who taught me to climb and my dad to sail.

And I am constantly on the lookout for the next (truly wild) responsible wildlife adventure.

Facts About Me

1. I have never seen a tool or piece of outdoor equipment that I didn't need.
2. I spent almost two decades in special operations with the U.S. Army.
3. Grandpa taught me that God lives in the tall timber, cold streams, & clear lakes.
4. It has been said that left to my own devices, I would be a hermit.
5. The amount of useless history & science trivia I know is frightening.
6. The #1 wildlife encounter on my bucket list is to swim with beluga whales in Hudson Bay.

Specialists in the Field

Elise Boeger

Conservation and Birding Consultant
Birding Specialist: Central Park, New York

My passion for wildlife, conservation, and nature was a constant theme throughout my career in magazine publishing (The New Yorker, Time Inc., and Smithsonian.) And I’ve been involved with “eco-tourism” since its infancy, serving on numerous boards for Sustainable and Environmental tourism.

Today I concentrate on education, advocacy, and involvement in environmental issues. I am an active member of the Explorers Club, Linnaean Society, and NYC Audubon.

I have lived most of my adult life in New York with Central Park as my backyard (very thankful not to have to trim the lawn!) and there I began birding decades ago! Can’t wait to see what the winds bring in on a Spring morning. Or the owls during a snowy winter day. Or the changes of seasons through the magnificent trees. Or ….! My life-long passion for animal rights extends to my kitchen, I don’t eat meat.

Being a “Birder” is about finding the connections throughout the natural world. What I love best is to follow those flying dots all over the globe. Elise is a proud member of The Explorers Club

Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven

Award Winning Wildlife Photographer, America West

I love wildlife and most of all: keeping wildlife wild. Born in Belgium (Europe), I moved to the United States in 2003. After spending the next 15 years stuck in an office working as a computer engineer, I switched careers and now spend my time living full-time on the road traveling to wildlife destinations and writing about all things wildlife, with an emphasis on conservation and sustainable wildlife tourism. Highlights of recent trips include the American West, Canada, Alaska, Mexico and Central America.

My photography and articles have been published in numerous online and offline publications including Arizona Highways and Destination:Wildlife. I am a team member and writer at Destination:Wildlife. I have written several books on photography and my travels.

One of the world's largest competitions awarded me as a Top 35 Wildlife Photographer in the World and Top 35 Photographer in the USA (across all categories) in 2020. Jorn is the author of A Beginner’s Guide to Bird and Wildlife Photography.

See more of Jorn’s work at www.Vangophotos.com and Instagram @vangophotos and at @destinationwildlife

Contributors

Larry Blau

Photographic Storyteller of Nature and Humanity

My love for photography started early and has grown throughout my life. One of my earlier recollections, growing up in Brooklyn in the 1950s, was when my mother brought home a little Kodak film camera. One night I picked it up. It seemed magical that this small box could capture a moment in time and store it on a roll of plastic film. A few days later, I took it out and walked around my neighborhood. The world slowed down. I started to look at and study people and objects in a way that I had never done. The camera took my mind to another place; it gave me the ability to forget some of the tougher aspects of my life. As my skills developed, so did the allure. I dreamed of becoming a photojournalist traveling the world capturing what I saw.

Of course, realities have a way of getting ahead of dreams. I realized that to change my life in meaningful ways; I would need to succeed at school. This goal took precedence, and I sadly gave up photography. I graduated college, started a career, got married, and had a family. Throughout those years, I often thought about photography; the fire continued to burn.

In 2004, I heard of a new way to take pictures called digital photography. Digital gave the ability to see the picture after taking it, storing it on a small chip, and transferring it to your computer. This I had to see. I purchased a six-megapixel Nikon camera and took it to a park to experiment. I started taking pictures in a flurry and realized that the patience I had developed earlier was gone. After living and thinking in the fast lane for over fifty years, I needed to learn how to slow down again.

Patience and intimate perspective returned in Vietnam. My wife and I visited in 2004. Taking pictures of Saigon, I felt as though I was experiencing a mental rebirth. These days, when I grab my camera, my mind immediately escapes to another realm, an indescribable calmness comes over me.

Over the last ten years, I have realized my childhood dream of traveling the world and documenting my perspective with my camera. Photography has been quite a journey; I am constantly searching for the next subject and location. See more of Larry’s Work at Larry Blau Photography Instagram @larryblau1949 and @destinationwildlife

Gordon Ellmers

Bird and Wildlife Photographer, New York State

I live in the town where I grew up, Fort Edward, NY. I have been a practicing veterinarian for over 40 years. I loved to snow ski but back trouble forced me to quit.

I bought a digital camera to photograph X-rays so I could quickly email the images to radiologists for review. That led me to digital photography and my hobby.

I have been photographing wildlife for 20 years now. The Fort Edward grasslands are a great place to photograph wild birds such as short-eared owls, snowy owls, harriers and rough-legged hawks. I am married to a wonderful person named Lynn. @destinationwildlife and #gordonellmers

Gordie works closely as a volunteer with The Grassland Bird Trust to chronicle the resident, migratory and accidental birds and wildlife in this important habitat.

Mark Seth Lender

Story Teller, Poet, Wildlife Photographer

I am the Explorer in Residence at Living on Earth, nationally broadcast weekly on Public Radio. I base my segments on over three decades of fieldwork with wildlife across seven continents and present them on-air in my own voice.

My first book, Salt Marsh Diary, A Year on the Connecticut Shore (St. Martin's Press, 2011), is a chronicle of the astonishing array of wildlife I am witness to around my home. My new collection, Cardinal Points, True Stories of Life on Earth, is scheduled for publication in Fall 2021. My first book of photography, The Decisive Sequence, is scheduled for publication in Spring 2022. My wildlife reports regularly appear in the Connecticut magazine, Ink, and others.

I believe that introducing children to the natural world is vital for its survival. My children's book, Smeagull the Seagull, A True Story (2018, Seahouse Press, illustrated by my wife, Valerie Elaine Pettis is the story of a wild herring gull who has taken it upon himself to befriend - or rather, train - Valerie and me. I have read and performed Smeagull the Seagull for over 2500 children in person; performances were twice nationally broadcast.

Recently I created Smeagull's Guide to Wildlife (2020), for The Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, as a guide to Long Island Sound wildlife. It is meant to encourage novice wildlife and nature observers, both children and adults, with plain language and richly illustrated with my photographs.

Mark is a proud member of The Explorers Club.

Jovial Lewis

WildFlower and Nature Lover

Jovial Lewis is an NYC resident who loves to travel and photograph wildflowers, wildlife and landscape. She started photography 15 years back with a point, and shoot camera, then graduated to the PRO Olympus micro four-thirds system to improve her pictures. There has been a learning curve since 2016, and in the process has learned exponentially about the subjects she photographs. She would like to state that she is an amateur photographer and not an expert in any of the subjects she photographs, not too crazy about hiking, never camped outdoors in her life, yet explores and has fun. “Get out, observe and enjoy nature the best way you can while staying aware and sensitive about ecological issues” is one of the mottos she lives by and encourages people to do the same.

Scott Stone

Wildlife Photographer and Guide, Alaska Brown Bear Specialist

As a native Montanan, wildlife has been part of my life since I can remember. In December of 2015, my "day job" as a construction manager lead me to Alaska. I spent most of 2016 with the amazing Kodiak brown bears. By 2017/18, I was in love with Katmai and its opportunity to view the bears. After watching and studying them for two years, I officially started guiding bear viewing tours in 2019 and continued in 2020.

My passion for photography equals my love for wildlife, especially the brown bears of Alaska, leading to me devoting my time to the great bears and sharing that passion with others.

I am actively studying to become one of the few Master Level 3 Bear Viewing Association guides, and I plan to continue guiding well into the future. I spend every moment I have away from guiding with bears or other wildlife and devote my life to helping educate and share that passion with others, including organizing photo tours. I proudly shoot Canon products but am well versed in assisting photographers in shooting other brands. My main goal is to give everyone I meet the best experience of their life. See more of Scotts work at Scott Stone Photography

Robert Wallace

Wildlife Photographer, An Eye on Nature

I’m crazy about the outdoors. Whether it’s hiking through a forest, kayaking rivers, and lakes or cruising the oceans, they are equally special to me. I was fortunate to have been brought up with love and appreciation for nature and wildlife from day one.

I studied photography at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida and the School for Visual Arts in New York City. About six years ago I decided to go into photography full-time with most of my focus on all things of our natural wild world (okay, so far only the USA). I recently relocated to the the beautiful State of Washington and am busy exploring all its natural wonders.

See more of Robert’s work www.rwallacephoto.com Follow Robert on Instagram @rwallace_photo

Eric Petersen

Wildlife Research

Erik is passionate about wildlife. In his quest to help us understand a species and its situation he packs his articles with details and facts, checking and double-checking for correctness. And he is committed to exposing tourism experiences proven to harm or diminish an animal’s life. Erik’s goal is to inspire us to appreciate nature.