Our Guides

Wayde Carroll

Wade is a digital photographer who lives in Anchorage, Alaska with his wife of ten years and their two amazing children. He specializes in outdoor and travel editorial assignments.

After receiving a B.A. in Art with an emphasis in photography from San Jose State University in 1993, Wayde fled to Alaska to hone his photographic skills. He spent a year documenting the lives of the Yup'ik people in the village of Eek, then two years assisting some of Anchorage's top photographers such as Clark James Mishler and Tom Bol whenever he had time to join them. He returned to California in 1998 to assist award-winning photographer Keith Sutter in Auburn, CA. He also worked for The Union newspaper in Grass Valley, CA for two and a half years shooting assignments and advertising images.

In 2004, he made the leap and started a full time career in photography and in the summer of 2006 returned to Alaska (a place he just can't get enough of). Wayde's been regularly published in numerous regional and national magazines, books, calendars, and maps including: National Geographic Maps, Alaska Magazine, New Mexico Magazine, Sonoma Magazine, California Tour and Travel, Sierra Heritage, Sierra Alive, Sierra Outdoor Recreation, The Sacramento Bee, The Milepost, as well as numerous county visitor's guides. In 2006, he was fortunate enough to spend much of the year photographing for Placer Grown, a non-profit organization formed to assist farmers and ranchers, in Placer County California; his photography assisted with their marketing produce and farm product efforts. One image ended up hanging in the State Capitol Building in Sacramento.

In 2007, Wayde began leading our Alaska Photo Safari. He finds guiding and sharing his knowledge of photography to be extremely rewarding and is looking forward to continuing on with AWA and leading our Alaska Photo Safaris this summer! He's also leading a photo safari this spring in Costa Rica for Journey's International, which he is equally as thrilled about! His love for discovering new places and providing fresh looks for familiar ones has kept clients coming back again and again. You can view Wayde's photography at Portfolio of Images by Wayde Carroll.

Nancy loves wildlife, wild places, and sharing her vast knowledge of these with others. Nancy holds a Master of Science degree in wildlife biology, and is a certified natural history interpretive guide and interpretive trainer by the National Association for Interpretation.

An Alaskan since 1978, Nancy has over 20 years experience as a wildlife biologist and natural history interpreter. She's traveled extensively in Alaska, and conducted field research on various bird and mammal species here, but she especially enjoys guiding and sharing her passion about Alaska with others. Although she arrived in Alaska as a "cheechako" (newcomer), her two children are proud "sourdoughs" having been born and raised here in Alaska.

Nancy completed her Masters thesis on moose in Denali National Park, and worked extensively on various species of loons during her past employment with state and federal wildlife agencies. She is also co-author of "A Guide to Wildlife Viewing in Alaska" as well as numerous other scientific and popular publications.

Her favorite recreational activities are watching wildlife, dip netting for salmon, hiking, skiing, berry picking, and partner dancing. Cha-cha anyone?

Elise has worked for Alaska Wildland Adventures for the last 12 years, sharing her love of Alaska with intrepid travelers. Field courses and a degree in Environmental Studies introduced her to the world of interpreting nature as a passion and profession. Since 1993, Elise has worked as a Naturalist, leading trips in the remote jungles of Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, and Ecuador, as well as less remote assignments in Hawaii and the Baja Peninsula.

There is nothing Elise enjoys more than incorporating biological, cultural, and historical information about an exotic corner of the world and sharing that with those seeking an ecological adventure. When she is not working or traveling, Elise resides near the entrance of Denali National Park.

Todd's love affair with guiding began his sophomore year of college at San Diego State University. While canoeing down the Colorado River, Todd heard his calling - to teach and share with others, the wild lands of the world. He started to lead trips for S.D.S.U.'s Outdoor Program and to this day has guided hundreds of students backpacking into the Sierra Mountains, kayaking in the Sea of Cortez and the coastal waters of Baja, and by canoe on many rivers including the Colorado, the Green River in Utah, and the Rio Grande in Texas. He graduated San Diego State University in 1986 with a Bachelor's of Art in Recreation Administration with an emphasis in Outdoor Education.

In 1993, Todd came to Alaska and started his own guiding company, renting canoes and guiding trips into the Kenai Wildlife Refuge on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. He has spent the last thirteen seasons working as a naturalist and guide in Alaska. His adventures have taken him rafting, hiking and canoeing in most of Alaska's National Parks including the Gates of the Arctic, Denali, Wrangell-St. Elias, Katmai, and Kenai Fjords National Park. Todd's most recent adventures were 12-day journeys on the Kongakut River (the northeastern most river in AK.) and the Canning River (the western boundary of ANWR), rafting, and exploring Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Todd currently spends his winters in San Diego, CA where he continues to guide for his Alma Mater and leads trips into Baja, Mexico always seeking out new and adventurous places.

Carrie's passion for travel, conservation biology, and public lands management has led to a diversified career path. She has been an environmental regulator, bus driver, university professor, mule wrangler, and wilderness ranger. After graduating with an MS in Environmental Education from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, she was an environmental consultant for the Chilean government and worked for two years regulating large mining corporations in the high elevations of the Andes Mountains. While in Chile, she summitted a 21,000 ft. peak and several other 14,000 ft+ peaks.

Upon return to the States, Carrie worked for the Audubon Expedition Institute teaching undergrad and grad students interdisciplinary coursework in natural history and ecology, cultural studies, and environmental sciences during semester-length field expeditions. During breaks from teaching, she has led numerous expeditions across North America, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New England, and Sonora and Baja California, Mexico. Two of her favorite expeditions are guiding in Denali National Park and Grand Canyon National Park. In the Grand Canyon, she led eight-hour mule trips to the bottom of the Canyon. Continuing her work with equines led her to a wilderness ranger and packer position with the US Forest Service in the Rogue River National Forest; for several years she was in charge of 3 horses, 3 mules and 113,000 acres of Southern Oregon's Sky Lakes Wilderness.

Most recently, Carrie has been an Assistant Professor in the Natural Sciences at the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls, OR. Carrie's life in southern Oregon outside of being a professor entails watching bald eagles and migrating White-fronted geese, ice skating on frozen lakes, backpacking in wilderness areas, winter kayaking, and taking international trips. When asked about her various careers, she likes to tell students that her life has been "a journey, not a destination."