Oregon Dunes Tracking Certification

Join Cybertracker Conservation Evaluator Marcus Reynerson for a weekend track and sign evaluation at the world-renowned Oregon Sand Dunes on the Oregon coast.

Evaluation Content

Every time we step outside of our door, there are myriad stories to be told of the comings-and-goings of animals in the world, and one of the oldest human capacities is to read and interpret these stories. The art and science of tracking offers an ecological window into the happenings of the living world around us.

Through this experience, you will grow a skillset in exploring the vast world of wildlife tracking. While we will certainly cover some of the key fundamental themes, every tracking experience is unique, and we will go where the tracks take us. Topics that will likely be explored:

• Basic wildlife foot physiology and morphology
• The natural history of landscapes
• Clear print identification
• Concepts in behavior and wildlife sign interpretation
• How wildlife interacts with landscapes
• Aging tracks and sign on the landscape

Whether beginner or advanced, every participant will walk away with a lot more knowledge and “search images” for the subtle patterns left behind by life on the landscape, ultimately feeling a stronger connection to the natural world.

The Format

This rich learning experience is facilitated as a field assessment.

This unique evaluation is 100% field-based and is sure to be engaging for all. This is a rigorous tracking experience designed to give honest reflection and feedback around each person’s unique skillset. While the evaluation helps us notice and be honest with our blind spots in knowledge and experience, the evaluators always emphasize learning and development. Whether an experienced or beginning tracker, participants will leave this experience looking at the ground in a completely different way with new tools to continue to develop themselves.

Note: To attain a certificate, one must achieve a certain score threshold. For those brand new to tracking, it can sometimes take a couple times of going through this process before attaining a certificate. Whether or not one attains a certificate does not have any bearing on the rich educational experience of the evaluation.

What is Cybertracker Conservation?

The evaluation began as a monitoring system for South African Indigenous trackers to document data for conservation and cultural preservation efforts. Soon thereafter, an assessment system was created to help solidify observer reliability in these efforts. That system has now become the international gold standard for assessing field kills in wildlife tracking in Africa, North America, and Europe. After coming to North America in 2004, the evaluation has grown steadily, and now over 2000 people have been through the process in the Unites States alone.

Find more info at trackercertification.com

Meet Your Instructor

Marcus Reynerson

Marcus is a naturalist, educator, facilitator, aspiring photographer and filmmaker. He has worked in wilderness education, outdoor leadership, and conservation for numerous organizations and communities across North America, Europe, and Africa. Marcus currently lives splitting his time between the Snoqualmie Valley in Washington State, just east of Seattle and the Louisville, KY region. He served for 18 years as the Lead Instructor at The Immersion at Wilderness Awareness School, and he is currently an evaluator with CyberTracker Conservation and Tracker Certification North America, an organization dedicated to providing leading edge assessment and training in the art and science of wildlife tracking across the globe. Marcus also works with Tracking the Kalahari, a non-profit that facilitates trips to visit the CyberTracker Kalahari Master Tracker Project in Northeast Namibia. In much of his work, Marcus uses wildlife tracking as an access point to share the stories of the living world with others. He is currently traveling much of the year visiting communities, organizations agencies, and schools to run certifications for a diverse array of professionals in the environmental field who see wildlife tracking and field ecology as important to their work. He is also diligently working towards attaining his Senior Tracker Certificate through CyberTracker Conservation.