Keynotes wildlife tourism conference 2024

Jennifer Waithman

Wide Bay Burnett Environment Council Coordinator

Jennifer’s love and passion for natural resources has led her to spending over 20 years within the interpretation profession. She has worked for various federal, state and local governmental agencies in the United States and Australia including the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Nevada Department of Wildlife, Parks VIC and Sunshine Coast Council. Her professional journey has led to expertise in implementation of interpretation strategies/plans, development of interpretive exhibitions and trail signage, interpretive media and face-to-face program design and delivery. She is a Certified Interpretive Guide and Certified Interpretive Guide Trainer with the National Association for Interpretation (NAI-USA) and currently an Interpretation Australia General Executive Member.

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Anton Lategan (Ecotraining, South Africa)

Bio will soon be added

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Mike Mayer and Bill Reynolds: Experiential Interpretive Design

Mike Mayer

Co-founder of Experiential Interpretive Design (EID), Mike’s professional experiences include interpretation, conference presentations, director of an environmental learning centre, public education, work with the Earth Education Research Evaluation Team at the University of Arizona and as a trainer, program developer, and translation coordinator for The Institute for Earth Education. He loves helping others get in touch with the natural and cultural wonders that surround us and hiking in the wild places of the western United States.

Bill Reynolds

Bill has facilitated the growth, expansion, and enhancement of marketable ag-tourism, ecotourism, and heritage tourism facilities for over 40 years. A curiosity catalyst, he loves planning, designing, and coaching visitor/place engagement. He has been an advisor on numerous visitor centre strategic design and conceptual plans. Bill’s experience with parks and recreation has focused on visitor services programme management and marketing.  He has conducted operational smart practice analyses, visitor -friendly attraction assessments and guest -ready training. Bill is co-founder of Experiential Interpretive Design, a coaching and training service for those involved in the interpretive field.

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Jonathon Spring (Dr.),

Steenwijk, Overijssel, Netherlands, Auckland Institute of Studies, Tourism and Hospitality Programme, Auckland, New Zealand. 

E-mail: springjonathon@gmail.com ORCID: 0000-0001-9211-0589

Biography

Jonathon first become involved in conservation through his work in public outreach with Greenpeace New Zealand. His degrees in Māori and History helped him appreciate the diversity in approaches to protecting the natural world. A guided encounter with New Zealand’s last remaining native owl was a pivotal moment for Jonathon to think about the local actions we all can do to help wildlife thrive, and inspired his PhD about visitor-guide interaction and learning during wildlife tours. 

Now, Jonathon lives in the Netherlands, focusing on his youngest children’s journey in the Dutch education system. He is continually amazed about the diversity of amphibian and insect life in his local neighbourhood, and is, slowly, learning to appreciate the mammals he spent so long trying to eradicate in his homeland. He will be joining us online for his interactive presentation.

His research outputs on interpretation include the following: 

Spring, J. (2023). Nature-based tourism and guided wildlife tours: designing wildlife tour experiences that optimise sustainable learning opportunities. Journal of Ecotourism22(1), 187-207. 

https://doi.org/10.1080/14724049.2022.2098963

Spring, J. (2017). Making sense of the experience: The role of guide visitor interaction during a guided wildlife tour (PhD thesis). AUT University, Auckland, New Zealand. Available at http://hdl.handle.net/10292/10837

Orams, M, Forestell, P, & Spring, J. (2014). What’s in it for the whales? Exploring the contribution of environmental interpretation to conservation. In J. Higham, L. Bejder & R. Williams (Eds.). Whale-watching: Sustainable management and ecological management (pp. 146-62). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

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