Who Is The Southwest
Wildlife Tracking Institute?

Led by two instructors holding multiples of CyberTracker’s highest Track & Sign certifications—Professional and Specialist— our hands-on Tracking Intensive program offers five immersive two and a half day weekends (Friday afternoon through Sunday), where nature itself becomes your classroom. Our weekends together will be held almost entirely in the field.

We are eager to help guide other enthusiastic trackers, whether you simply want to build a connection to the land where you live, or if you're aiming for a Professional or Specialist certificates.

Lead Instructor 
Jonathan Shapiro 

Jonathan's home base is in the small town of Hardwick, in the  Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, with a huge beaver wetland behind his house. He is the lead instructor for the Fox Paw School in the Northeast, and travels and teaches extensively in the American Southwest.  He is the lead instructor at Southwest Tracking Institute, having attained 3 Professional Certificates and 2 Specialist Certificates—each in different bioregions of North America.

Jonathan has dedicated the last seven years to the art and science of wildlife tracking, and participating in 22 professional evaluations through the Track and Sign Certification program. His evaluation record includes seven perfect scores at the 100% level, including three consecutive perfect scores at both Professional and Specialist levels in Southern California.

While certification success is a meaningful benchmark, Jonathan's teaching philosophy emphasizes deep connection with the natural world—the certifications are just a tool to build that relationship. He crafts his courses to help students develop both technical proficiency and ecological awareness. If you're focused on certifications, Jonathan's extensive evaluation experience has given him unique insights into the learning process—from pattern recognition and evidence analysis, to managing the psychological aspects of field assessment.

This combination of technical achievement and focus on holistic learning allows him to guide students effectively toward their tracking goals, whether they're pursuing certifications or simply deepening their understanding of the natural world.

Jonathan's naturalist practice goes beyond tracking—he's a passionate amateur botanist and birder, and has taught the natural history curriculum at Sterling College since 2024. He's happy to report that all his courses are field-based, including Field Botany, Field Ornithology, and Field Mammalogy.

When he's not out tracking, you'll find him hunting, running, making traditional handcrafts, paddling canoes, or reading books by the wood stove. 

See what previous students say about Jonathan's teaching style:  What Others Say

Instructor 
Terry Hunefeld  

Terry holds two Professional Certificates and a Specialist Track & Sign Certificate from Tracker Certification North America (TCNA). 

Terry and his wife live in tiny desert village - Borrego Springs, California - surrounded by a thousand square miles of Sonoran Desert wilderness ringed with mountain ranges - known as the Anza Borrego Desert State Park. 

Where It Began

On Earth Day 1988, Terry (living in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the time) was in a bookstore featuring a big table of “Earth Day” books.  He picked up a copy of “Down The River” by an author he did not recognize… Edward Abbey.  After reading a few pages, he was hooked. 

Over the course of the next two years Terry read every book Abbey wrote (23 of them!) and began traveling to the desert southwest to wilderness camp under the stars in the deserts of California, Utah and Arizona.  Fascinated by desert ecosystems, Terry and his family moved to San Diego County in 1998 and began exploring the vast wilderness of the Anza Borrego Desert State Park (ABDSP) twenty or more weekends each year. 

After 13 years of wilderness backpacking, hiking, car camping, birding and botanizing in the desert, Terry and his wife Ann moved permanently to the little desert village of Borrego Springs in 2012.  Terry learned of the San Diego Tracking Team in 2018 and discovered his true passion… wildlife tracking. 

Terry’s Naturalist & Tracking Experience

  • TCNA Specialist Track & Sign Certification - 2024
  • TCNA Professional Track & Sign Certification, San Diego County – 2024
  • TCNA Professional Track & Sign Certification, Albuquerque, NM - 2025
  • Terry has participated in more than 44 TCNA certifications since 2020  -  all over the world  -   from SoCal to Vermont, Florida to Washington... plus four weeks in Africa - building tracking skills for sign recognition of all North American species in varying habitats. 
  • San Diego Tracking Team Wildlife Survey Leader, 2022 – present
  • Level 1,2,3 San Diego Tracking Team Naturalist/Tracker Certifications, 2019-2020
  • California State Parks Naturalist, 2016 - present
  • Anza Borrego Foundation Desert Naturalist and Trip Leader/Interpreter  2016 - present
  • Anza Borrego Desert State Park Naturalist and Field Trip Leader 2016- present
  • Anza Borrego Desert Botany Society Vice-President -  2017- 2010
  • Naturalist & Trip Leader, 2015-present
  • NOAA Fisheries Science Center, On-Board NOAA Ship Bird Census Volunteer, 2008-2010
  • San Diego Field Ornithologists, Rare Bird Moderator 2012-2020
  • eBird San Diego County Low Desert Reviewer Moderator, 2012 – 2020
  • Southern California Audubon Societies Pelagic Bird Coordinator & Outings Leader, 2006-2012
  • Oceanside CA Audubon Christmas Bird Count Coordinator and Leader - 2006-2012
  • Sierra Club, San Diego Chapter, Certified Outings Leader, 2002-2008
  • San Diego Natural History Museum Naturalist & Hike Leader, 2002-2006
  • Mission Trails Regional Park Naturalist & Hike Leader, 2003-2008
  • Anza Borrego Foundation, Board of Trustees, 2018-2021
  • Anza Borrego Desert Natural History Association Naturalist and Trip Leader 2012 to present
  • San Diego Tracking Team Board of Directors, 2021-present
  • San Diego Tracking Team TCNA-CyberTracker Training Coordinator, 2021-present