Meet your
wildlife guide

Gina Claeys

Gina is originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan and has been living in the Spokane area since 2015. She spent some years working on becoming a wildlife biologist but one day, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she had an epiphany that wildlife encounter education was needed. Upon doing a hike in the North Cascades, there was a black bear spotted in the vicinity and hordes of people booked it back to the parking lot, alarmed by the sighting. She was frustrated by the overreaction, and when reflecting upon many conversations with people over the years, realized that an intervention was necessary to prevent misinformation and negative experiences that result from people not knowing how to handle interactions with wildlife. Thus, Cedar Grove Wildlife Guiding was born!

Gina has a master's in environmental management from Duke University and has had a variety of work experiences including field technician work with state and federal agencies, conservation work for a land trust, outreach work with a municipal government, facilitator for a forest coalition, and research for educational institutions, which has given her diverse perspectives and skills. She also spends a lot of time recreating outdoors while rock and ice climbing, hiking, paddling, skiing, rafting, and biking. She is thrilled to be able to turn a lifetime of work and recreational experiences into knowledge that can help serve the community, and improve life for both people and wildlife. Gina also serves as the Conservation Chair for the Spokane Mountaineers.