Steven
joined Woodsmoke in early 2007 and soon become firmly ensconced as a
full time part of the Woodsmoke instructional team and soon received his instructors knife at the tail end of 2008. Steven has completed a degree in outdoor education at Edinburgh
University, meanwhile pursuing bushcraft knowledge
and experience. His interests have led him on expeditions to remote
areas of Alaska and Norway, as well as months spent on tracking
conservation projects in the North Maine Woods; where he developed an affinity and ability for passing on his knowledge. A
lover of books, Steve is inspired by tales of the backwoods.
Accomplished in wilderness skills and bushcraft, he is an ardent naturalist and talented tracker. In 2008, steven returned from a month of intensive animal tracking study in New England, culminating in a two day formal assessment on his ability to interpret track and sign. The 'Tracking Evaluation' process (which was originally developed in Southern Africa by Louis Liebenberg to award credit to Bushmen trackers), is growing and beginning to gain international recognition as an excellent method of evaluating both track and sign interpretation and trailing skills. Steven was privileged to be able to spent time with some of the most gifted and dedicated naturalists and trackers in preparation for the evaluation in central Massachusetts, where his ability was reflected in a 94% Level III certificate.
A knowledgeable botany enthusiast and wildlife tracker, Steven insists that those who enjoy the great outdoors should work hard to develop a deeper understanding of the creatures that accompany our journeys in the wilderness, and enrich our experiences there.