James grew up in the high desert of western Colorado, where he developed a passion for landscapes and the stories they record. College brought him to the Greater Yellowstone where he earned his Bachelor’s in Earth Science from Montana State University. A chance email led him to enroll as a student in a WRFI semester, which sent him on a trajectory to pursue field education as part of his career. James completed a Master’s in Geology at Utah State University where he researched the geomorphic signals of salt-dissolution subsidence and river incision near the southeast Utah town of Moab. He began instructing for WRFI in 2015 and has taught on the Colorado Plateau and Restoration Ecology courses. Nowadays James is a geologist for the Wyoming State Geological Survey where he specializes in geomorphology, field mapping, and geologic hazards. He relishes the opportunity to combine his love for wilderness, geology, and experiential learning into a career where he can spend time in the field as both a scientist and an educator. Though his work affords him similar indulgences, James still spends his free time hiking, picking up rocks, and seeking out the wild places in the Interior West.