Nathan Varley grew up in Yellowstone National Park in the tiny community of Mammoth Hot Springs. His parents have been biologists and park rangers that have lived and worked in the park for 3 decades. Following in the family footsteps, Nathan studied biology at Montana State University where he earned B. S. and M. S. degrees. 

The ecology of mountain goats in the Absaroka Mountains on Yellowstone's eastern edge was his research topic. Further adventure in wildlife studies took him among moose in Alaska, guanacos in Patagonia, and pine marten in Idaho.

His trails have led home as often as afar, where Yellowstone's coyotes, bears, river otters and gray wolves became primary study subjects. As a contributor to the historic gray wolf restoration project he has often been in the field tracking wolves. His research at the University of Alberta focused on the relationship between wolves and elk after wolf reintroduction. 

With his wife, Linda Thurston, Nathan owns his own wildlife touring business group, Yellowstone Wolf Tracker which specializes in outfitting groups to view wolves, other wildlife, and all that the Yellowstone wilderness has to offer. 

This is part I of II episodes we recorded with Dr. Varley. Follow the adventures and interviews in real time at TrailLessTraveled.net and be sure to check out our visual series on YouTube!!!

The radio version of the show premieres Sunday nights at 6 MST, streaming live online at Trail1033.com & locally (Missoula) on the Trail 103.3 FM

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trail-less-traveled/id1180249343

This episode was recorded on location in collaboration with Xplorer Maps. We want to extend boatloads of gratitude to Xplorer Maps for their generous support of this podcast and international outreach programs paired with conservation projects. Learn more at XplorerMaps.com and be sure to follow the adventures of their story maps on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

Xplorer Maps is a small family business based in Missoula, Montana with deep roots in Africa. Xplorer Maps has over 60+ hand drawn story maps of destinations from all over the world, including our national parks.

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