Jesse Lewis

M.S. Conservation Biology, University of Michigan
B.A. Interdisciplinary Studies with Honors, Virginia Tech

Jesse is a conservationist, an educator and a storyteller.

Since his first trip overseas as an exchange student to New Zealand at the tender age of 17, Jesse has traveled widely across the map. Highlights of his travels have included: spending a year as a naturalist in the cloud forests of Central America, researching elephant behavior in South Africa’s game parks, cavorting with giant albatross and tiny endemic dolphins as a wildlife guide off the Great Southern Ocean, completing a thesis on community-based conservation in the coffee lands of eastern Jamaica, and retracing the journeys of the great naturalist explorer Alfred Russell Wallace across the dreamy isles of the Malay Archipelago.

Jesse’s conservation work and love of travel have taken him to over 30 countries on 6 continents around the world in the pursuit of science and exploration. Prior to joining Dragons he has led experiential education programs for groups like Round River Conservation Studies, the Wild Rockies Field Institute and the University of Michigan Biological Station. He currently serves as the Rainforest Education Coordinator and Blogger for Rainforest Trust based outside of Washington D.C. and moonlights as a photographer and writer for various publications. When not off on an adventure he can be found bird watching, cooking meals for friends or lost in a good book.

Wherever he lands, Jesse enjoys un-puzzling the invisible connections in nature and finding creative ways to transform them into art, story and education. As part of the Dragons team, he hopes to empower students in discovering their own invisible connections to self, sense of place and the natural world.