Melanie Heacox

Melanie Heacox has been a career naturalist with the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) for over 30 years. Her assignments included Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Katmai, Denali and Glacier Bay National Park where she met and married Kim. Her career led her across Denali by dog-sled, down the Colorado River in a raft, up the Grand Teton by pitons and ropes, and through Yellowstone by snowshoe. She also served on the NPS Prince William Sound Oil Spill Task Force.

During extended leaves from the NPS she studied at the Charles Darwin Research Center in the Galápagos Islands, and worked there as a naturalist, and has made over 30 trips to the Antarctic. Melanie is curious about all aspects of Antarctica, but has a particular interest in krill and the ozone hole. Melanie and Kim traveled to the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge England to research the life/times of Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. She is passionate about being a naturalist and loves to share her enthusiasm about wild places.