Team Member Profile

David Jaffe has been guiding and teaching a variety of audiences about our natural world and our connection with it since 1991. His childhood interest in natural systems eventually brought him to Evergreen State College where he earned a B.S. in Environmental Studies and Geology. After 13 years of ‘life-experience’ he returned to graduate school earning a M.S in Applied Ecology with The Field Naturalist Program from the University of Vermont. Mingling an academic background with experience working around the world in exceptionally diverse environments, he is able to efficiently observe, understand, and interpret natural and cultural history. He has a keen interest in travel and plans trips to visit as many locations as possible to maximize his opportunity to photograph the greatest diversity in the region.

Although born in New Jersey, and currently living in Durango, Colorado, USA, his path has been quite circuitous! He has hiked through the Himalaya in Nepal, looked into the eyes of masked boobies in Galápagos, sought nudibranchs on the Great Barrier Reef, and walked the Ghats along the Ganges River in India. He has led backcountry trips in Denali National Park, learned from students in Kentucky, and gained great insights while hitchhiking home from work in Yosemite National Park. He has experience as a naturalist in many of the lower 48 states and Baja California. David worked as a divemaster in Australia, Costa Rica, and India. He assisted with the establishment of a marine protected area off the coast of Madagascar and researched birds in Canada and South America.

He received his Photo Instructor certification in a multi-day training workshop. Developed and taught by National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions photographers, the workshop helped him develop additional insight and skills necessary to help you better understand your camera and the basics of composition — to better capture the moments at the heart of your experience.