 Brown bear watching & wildlife tours on the coast of Katmai National Park, Alaska Our Guide/Naturalists
Dr. Mark Newman resides and practices medicine in Anchorage, Alaska. Mark has photographed coastal bears in Alaska for 20 years. Along with other subjects his pursuit of photography, which is his first love, has taken him all over the world. Kent Fredrikson, a native of Sweden, is a master carpenter specializing in building custom cabins in remote locations. He has been photographing and camping with the bears of the Katmai Coast and Kodiak Island for ten years. To view Kent's photographs click HERE and HERE. Assists John Rogers skippering M/V Waters, also offers freelance videographer/photographer services. He is a 14 year commercial fisherman with background in photography and film production. He has worked as camera operator on projects the National Geographic Channel and Alaska Channel. He's familiar with area geography and locations from the Aleutian Islands to Southeast as well as Interior Alaska. He has also worked as a freelance videographer/photographer and has his own High Def camera package including lights and sound. He has studied cinematography at Brooks Institute of Photography and is dive certified.
Michael Parks and Lydia Rabotini
are pursuing other adventures.
Spike Christopher joined the crew of the M/V Waters in 1999, assisting
John with the operations of the Waters, in addition to guiding and
accompanying guests ashore. Spike is an avid videographer and an
exciting storyteller - a lifelong Alaskan and retired Alaska Police
officer, Spike is an open book when it
comes to Alaskan history.
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Will
Troyer
Dr.
Lynn Rogers is known as the Diane Fossey of black bears for his 30 years
of research, which included actually living with wild black bears to learn
their behavior and language. Lynn holds a Ph.D. in Behavioral Biology and
Ecology from the University of Minnesota. His work has been the subject of
many magazine articles and TV programs, including National Geographic
Explorer, Wild Kingdom, and Nature. His work was most recently featured
with the Discovery Channel, where Lynn has placed a Web-Camera with a
denning black bear for the world to monitor on the internet. He is
recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on bear behavior. He
says, "I'm cautious around grizzly bears I don't know, but in all the
hours I've spent close to these intelligent animals in the wild, I've
never felt threatened." It would probably be impossible to find a
better field leader. Lynn's scheduled time on the boat is very active with
interest. To learn more about bears and Lynn himself, click 
Dr.
Steve Stringham holds a Ph. D. in behavioral and population ecology,
University of Tennessee. Dr. Stringham began his career as a marine
ecologist, and would be delighted to introduce you to the rich intertidal
areas of the Katmai coast.
Jim Halfpenny, Ph.D, is a scientist and educator whose background is the
mammology and ecology including polar, alpine, long-term specialties. he
has been tracking since 1957 and teaching tracking since 1969. Jim
is author of many books, articles, and videos. Since 1961, Jim has taught
outdoor education and environmental programs for state, federal, and
private organizations. Jim has conducted research and lead expeditions to
the four corners of the world including both polar regions, the deserts
and mountains of China and Africa, and the forests of the tropics. Jim
resides in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Chris
Morgan is a British conservation ecologist specializing in international
bear research and conservation. He has a Masters degree in Advanced Ecology
and has worked on bear research and environmental education projects in many
wild locations including Spain, the Pakistani Himalayas, the Canadian
Arctic, Ecuador, the Canadian Rockies and the USA. In 1997, he established
Insight Wildlife Management which specializes in field research and
education – especially regarding bears and other carnivores. Chris is the
co-founder of Canopy - an organization that creates links between
corporations, communities, and the natural world, and a lecturer at Western
Washington University's Environmental Science Department. He is also the
co-director of the North Cascades Grizzly Bear Outreach Project (GBOP) – an
innovative approach to promoting knowledge about bears in local communities.
He is known for his infectious passion and enthusiasm for wild places, and
he is happiest when sharing this with others in the field. He has been
leading bear viewing trips to Katmai since 1998. Chris lives in Bellingham,
Washington.
Brad
Josephs is a naturalist interpreter and bear viewing guide specializing in
the Alaska Peninsula and Katmai National Park. Brad is a student and
a teacher of all aspects of the Katmai Coastal Ecosystem, including birds,
plants, fish and especially bears. Brad attended the University of
Alaska, Fairbanks with a B.S. in Wildlife Biology. In the mid-90s, Brad
served as research tech on various projects studying population dynamics and
genetic diversity of small mammals in various regions of Alaska. In 1999,
Brad was an Intern Tech for the Alaska Department of Fish & Game at the
McNeil River State Game Sanctuary under Derek Stonorov and
Larry Aumiller. Since 2000, he has guided boat based, remote camp based,
and backpacking trips along the Katmai Coast. While working for
Katmai Coastal Bear Tours, Brad has assisted and guided numerous
professional photographers, including Art Wolfe, and a variety of production
companies, including IMAX, Animal Planet, BBC, PBS, and Discovery HD
Theater. Brad spends his autumns in Churchill, Manitoba as Expedition
Leader on polar bear viewing trips for 
Spike Christopher
John Rogers, owner of M/V Waters, is
an advocate for conservation and protection of Katmai's coastal
bears. John has explored Katmai's coast every year since 1989 and continues to explore
and expand the horizons of the Alaska Peninsula.