​Dr. Nancy Rightwood is a field ecologist and wilderness safety specialist with over twenty-five years of experience in remote-terrain research and ranger coordination. After earning her doctorate in Environmental Sciences, she served as a lead consultant on forest acoustics and long-trail behavioral studies before founding the National Wilderness Protection Service (NWPS).

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Her work bridges the gap between traditional ranger practice and modern field science, emphasizing transparency, evidence-based conservation, and respect for the unexplained. Within NWPS, Dr. Rightwood oversees operations, data integrity, and incident analysis for all wilderness regions under federal partnership.

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“Curiosity is our compass,” she often says. “When something moves beyond the edges of known ecology, our duty is not to dismiss it—but to observe, record, and protect.”