Tina Howell has been tracking wildlife for the past 50 years. She has been inspirational in encouraging women and children to love the outdoors and wildlife. Along with the Schaefers’ lifelong passion for the outdoors, hiking and biology, Tina inspired a passion for animal tracking. She took the immense patience of teaching Ryan introductory tracking. She provided him with a handful of her hand-drawn sketches

Ann Schaefer has a degree in biology from Boise State University and John Schaefer has a zoology degree from Arizona State University.

Ryan Schaefer was having difficulty in school. He struggled with dyslexia and ADHD and despite working hard every night and all summer long, when he returned to school, teachers always said he was worse. When he hit second grade, Ann and John decided it was important to learn that learning is fun. The family decided to write about what they love: animal tracking. Together they tracked, photographed, and researched wildlife, and this book is the result.

At age 12, Ryan is in love with all science and received a Messier award in astronomy. He is a certified scuba diver and loves all ocean wildlife. He is working towards a future in paleontology and was ecstatic to participate in a paleontological dig in Montana. He continues to be passionate about tracking. He still can’t spell worth beans.