Meet Our European CyberTracker Evaluators
John Rhyder
Trailing & Track & Sign Evaluator. External Evaluator Track & Sign
John is a naturalist, woodsman, certified wildlife tracker and writer, he is both founder and Head Instructor at Woodcraft School.
He has been teaching since 1994 and has made this a full-time career since then. He is a naturalist and is certified through CyberTracker wildlife tracking accreditation as Senior tracker. John is also qualified as both a track and sign and trailing evaluator one of only four people in Northern Europe who can assess the CyberTracker system in this region. To expand his knowledge John has also been certificated in Germany, Holland and Spain. He is a qualified arborist and also holds a University certificate in Species Identification and Biological Recording specialising in mammals, reptiles, bats, fungi and woodland plants and trees. John is the originator of the first accredited bushcraft and related programmes in the UK. He has written many articles for various publications and continues to explore projects in this genre as well as books. John has also been lucky enough travel widely and has studied and led bushcraft, tracking and wildlife tours in several countries.
Based in the UK
René Nauta
Track and sign Evaluator
René Nauta has been a passionate tracker for many decades. Together with his partner Beke Olbers they run their company ‘EXTRA Bushcraft’ founded in March 1997. Since that time, wildlife tracking has been a primary component of its course contents.
Besides courses in Holland they also offer expeditions to wilderness areas like the Carpathians, Rocky Mountains, Belarus and the Kalahari (in coorporation with the Bushmen), etc
Beke and René have published 2 elaborate books about bushcraft: het ‘Bushcraft handboek’ (2015) en ‘Buitenleven’ (2023)
In 2012 he was invited to join the first CyberTracker Evaluation in the Lake District, England, and was hooked from then on even more. He was awarded his specialist certification in 2014 and began his journey to become T&S Evaluator, alongside John Rhyder and Joscha Grolms.
In March 2018 he received Evaluatorship and now conducts evaluations in Holland, Belgium and France. More trainings across Europe are on the horizon.
In May 2019 he published an elaborate fieldguide (‘Het Prentenboek’) with his co-author Aaldrik Pot. The book is a unique and comprehensive presentation of the morphology and tracks of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates across northwestern Europe. Plus a chapter about animal gaits, how to collect and store tracks. Plus the uses for monitoring or guiding. A set of (life size) fieldcards with tracks of mammals and birds was also published at the same time.
Joscha Grolms
Track and sign evaluator
Joscha Grolms began studying the tracks and signs of European mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates in 2003.
He is the founder of Germanys well known “Tracking Intensive”, a yearlong tracking internship with remarkable results. Joscha became Germanys first Track & Sign Evaluator for CyberTracker Conservation and is the director of the wildlife tracking department at Wildniswissen.
He trains and certifies biologists as well as the general public in Northern Europe and works as a full-time professional since 2005.
Based in Germany
José M Galán
Trailing & Track & Sign Evaluator
José M Galán has been a Guide of the Doñana National Park since 1992. Senior Tracker since 2018. He is currently assigned to the Spanish Action Plan to against wildlife trafficking and international poaching.
Galan is a senior tracker and evaluator for both track and sign and trailing.
Global Standard in Wildlife Tracking
European Wildlife Tracking is part of the CyberTracker global organisation, which started in Africa to validate trackers & tracking.