My name is Bobby Pfeiffer. I grew up in Central New Jersey with an idealic suburban 90’s childhood complete with roller hockey in the street and riding bikes with all the kids from the neighborhood. I have always been facinated by the natural world. Drawing inspiration from conservation and education heros like Steve Irwin drove me to pursue a career working with animals.

After high school graduation the only things I knew I liked were animals and science so BOOM. Animal Science major at Rutgers University in 2011 with emphasis on pre-veternary medicine and research. I turned that fancy degree into a part time job in a wine room, where the highlight of my days was walking two yellow lab puppies through the acres of orchards. The commute through some of New Jersey’s finest farm land gave me an appreciation for the state I hand’t know before.

Following this I spent nearly three years working as an educator, and biologist, at Adventure Aquarium. The education department was a joke filled with such passionate and brilliant people, it was a shame to see that talent wasted on efforts the orgainization deemed to be tertiatry to profit making. Around this time I was given my first digital camera and set about to photograph each of the fish in the aquarium. I learned so much about photography through trial and error on these challenging conditions.

My mid-life crisis ensued and precipitated in a months long research trip to Baja, Mexico. There we did real field science, photo studies, invertebrate counts, and mangrove transects all in an attempt to save crucial mangrove habitat along the Pacific coast. We did all of this research while camped along an uninhabited barrier island boardering the Pacific Ocean. The only access to or from our camp was via our kayaks which became an extention of us. I grew fond of the Pacific and even more fond of kayaking.

When my Baja job ran dry I stayed on the west coast bouncing around Southern California as a naturalist on Catalina Island, an educator at Arrowhead Ranch, and finally as a teacher at LA County Outdoor Science School. I spent 5 years in Wrightwood California teaching in the San Gabriel Mountains, It was the first place that felt like home outside of New Jersey.

During the summer seasons I would travel to Orcas Island in the San Juan archipelago in Washington State. I worked initially to help set up “Orcas WILD” a museum highlighting the plants and animals of the Salish Sea. The salt air called to me and I stayed on as a kayak guide and whale watch naturalist. This place and the people made this feel like home as well.

Now through serendipity and love I’ve found myself a home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. There is no scenery like the mountains, there is no wildlife like what migrates across this Serengeti of North America. Having ready access to Yellowstone National Park is a huge part of why I love being out here, each time I set foot on the living earth of the park I feel small and significant at the same time. It is a holy place to me. A temple to conservation, science and education.

When I interact with people in the park I try to channel my inner Steve Irwin and cherish every rock, tree, and beautiful animal.

Time continues to flow onwards and I strive to remain water, to embrace the meanders and rapids and to build relationships with people and places along the way.