Jeremy Heft

The Wolf Education & Research Center

Featured Video

Meet Jeremy Heft

Jeremy was born and raised in Quakertown, located in the heart of suburban Southeastern Pennsylvania where humans greatly outnumber wildlife. From an early age, Jeremy was drawn to the outdoors and spent every waking minute in whatever nature could be found around his community. Heavily involved in sports throughout his youth, Jeremy pinnacled his athletic career as a high school football all-star and track & field champion. In addition to sports, he was also involved with Boy Scouts, achieving Star Scout rank, where he learned a multitude of outdoor skills that would later be a huge benefit to his subsequent career in wildlife studies.

Jeremy attended Kutztown University, where he achieved a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Biology with an emphasis in Animal Behavior and Physical Geography. During his time at KU, Jeremy refined his passion for large carnivores, particularly gray wolves, under the guidance of the best college Environmental Science Program in Pennsylvania. After graduating, he began the Naturalist path of his career with the Marine Science Consortium on Wallop’s Island, Virginia, where he taught Marine Biology to students ranging from elementary school to college courses. Next, Jeremy headed to the beautiful mountains of New Hampshire where he taught Mountain Ecology and backcountry survival skills to various aged students with the Appalachian Mountain Club.

Finally, Jeremy landed a dream internship position with the Wolf Education and Research Center in Winchester, Idaho, where he learned from some of the top wolf biologists in the world. He quickly bonded to the resident, captive Sawtooth Pack while performing behavioral research on territory and trail olfactory markers. After his internship, Jeremy was promoted to Biologist with WERC, and assumed all care and maintenance of the captive wolves as well as the remote, rustic camp that housed interns and staff. Being the closest bonded human to both the Sawtooth and Owyhee Packs throughout their lives provided Jeremy with unprecedented insight into the social world of wolves. He now uses his 22 years of captive care experience to promote responsible and ethical care of captive animals by consulting for organizations around the world. Additionally, Jeremy enjoys lecturing to animal professionals and providing interpretive programs to youth in continuing the Mission of WERC.

When not busy being a Wildlife/Wolf Biologist, Naturalist, and mentor, Jeremy occupies his time by volunteering as the Fire Chief and an Advanced EMT for his community. After 18 years of volunteer service, Jeremy now teaches Emergency Medicine at Lewis Clark State College and acts as the Chief Deputy Coroner of Lewis County, Idaho. He lives with Tsebe, his feline friend, in Winchester, Idaho.