About Ian

Ian Thorleifson is the lead for all GEOS services. Born and raised in rural Manitoba, Ian completed a degree in Zoology and Biogeography at the University of Winnipeg. He then worked at biophysical resource inventory and land use planning, then polar bear, moose and caribou management for Manitoba Wildlife Branch, and helped raise a happy family of human children. Ian began raising and marketing cattle, elk, bison, deer and horses in 1986, both on his own ranch and as the manager of large corporate farms in New Brunswick and Alberta. He is the co- author of The Elk Farming Handbook and many articles covering elk, deer and cattle farming.

In 1987, Ian began leading ecotours to study and photograph bears, birds, and nature in general. Destinations have included Riding Mountain, Churchill, Wager Bay, Ungava, the Mississippi Delta and the Gulf of Mexico. In association with these tours and as Executive Director of the Canadian Cervid Council and Communications Coordinator for the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association he has become an accomplished and appreciated storyteller and public speaker. Ian has extensive accomplishments in the Communications field, as a freelance or assignment writer, creating informative magazine and newspaper articles, as a project facilitator and as a communications planner.

Education

• B.Sc., Zoology and Biogeography.
• Graduated as Student of Distinction.

Interests and Hobbies