Our Team

Kevin Wilson

President & CEO
WILDLIFE CONFLICT MITIGATION SPECIALIST & COURSE INSTRUCTOR

As founder, owner, and operator of Wild Encounters Ltd., Kevin comes from a diverse professional and recreational wildlife conservation background. With a BPE in Administration from the University of Alberta, he has over 30 years of experience working with industry, all levels of government, and the non-profit sector.

Kevin owns and operates a successful professional outfitting and guiding business (Alberta Hunting Adventures), through which he has hosted bear hunters from around the world since 2001. An integral part of that business involves ongoing interaction with wildlife, travel into the backcountry, and routine encounters with predatory wildlife e.g., black bears, grizzly bears, wolves, cougars, and more. Over the last 20 + years as a professional outfitter and guide, Kevin has gained an intimate understanding of wildlife ecology, animal behaviour, how to avoid and respond in wildlife conflict situations, and most importantly how to safely and effectively implement non-lethal defense strategies and tools (along with lethal capabilities in the face of imminent threat to life) to defend against predatory wildlife.

Since 1998, Kevin has earned a strong reputation as a consultant managing projects for the University of Alberta, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (AESRD), Alberta Education, and private business and non-profit conservation agencies. Work has focussed on initiating and administering wildlife management projects, developing and facilitating safety guidelines, environmental assessments, extensive report-writing, and multi-media communications.

Further, Kevin is a card-holding member of the outdoor media (since 1992). As an award-winning outdoor writer/photographer and videographer, and active member of the Professional Outdoor Media Association of Canada (POMAC), he continually brings his diverse outdoor skills and knowledge to readers in magazines, online publications, and newspaper articles and columns. Former hosts of Canadian Outdoorsman TV, he and his wife Heather are also currently team members on Wild TV’s popular Bowzone Live show.

Establishing Wild Encounters Ltd. in 2015, Kevin built the company from the ground up, and he is proud of the company’s reputation as one of Canada’s premiere private-sector wildlife conflict management businesses.

PAUL CHAMBERS

WILDIFE CONFLICT MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST

Born and raised in the foothills of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, Paul has over 25 years of backcountry experience. As an avid hunter, living in Cadomin, Alberta and as a certified wildlife monitor, he has an intimate understanding of biodiversity, working in remote areas and most importantly how to interact with, and work around predatory wildlife.

To say that Paul is passionate about wildlife and exceptional with people, would be an understatement. A valued member of the Wild Encounters team, as an avid outdoorsman, he has the skills, knowledge and experience to safely accompany workers into high-risk areas, keep them engaged and end each day with a smile.

Outside of the company, his active leadership, and conservation efforts, with the Wild Sheep Foundation Alberta (WSFA) have credited him with a platinum jubilee from her majesty the queen – reinforcing both his passion for, and engagement in, wildlife conservation and all things outdoors.

CHRIS GENERT

WILDIFE CONFLICT MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST

Known for his quiet confidence, Chris too is amazing with people, and he has over three decades of experience interacting with, and navigating dangerous wildlife encounters.

Born and raised in rural Alberta, in his younger years, he worked closely with his parents in their registered quarter horse breeding operation. After high school, he launched a successful career in the oil and gas industry as a contract pressure welder, eventually developing his own successful business in oilfield construction management. Since 2012, he and his wife Barbara, have called Hinton, Alberta home.

Also an avid hunter, in his free time, Chris makes time to hunt for himself and guide hunters in Alberta, BC, and the Yukon Territory. With a change in career focus in 2023, we’re very pleased to have Chris on board, as he has become another of our valued Wild Encounters team members.

AARON MARTIN

WILDIFE CONFLICT MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST

Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Aaron moved to Whitehorse, Yukon at the age of 13, where he spent his formative years hunting and fishing in Canada’s north. He and his wife of 25 years now live in Red Deer, Alberta.

A journeyman carpenter by trade, he spends as much time as he can, working as a professional bear hunting guide in Alberta and B.C., as a licensed trapper in Alberta. Professing a particular passion for hunting wild sheep, Aaron thrives on hunting both here and abroad. Through his many wilderness adventures, he has gleaned a wealth of knowledge around bear behavior and how to navigate potentially dangerous wildlife encounters.

Hunter Jarvis

WILDIFE CONFLICT MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST

The youngest member of our team, Hunter’s experience with bears and other wildlife is impressive beyond his years. Immersed in the professional outfitting industry his entire life, Hunter’s family operates one of the biggest guiding businesses in Alberta. Following suit, he himself owns and operates his own professional outfitting/guiding service as well. With great confidence, we say that his interpersonal and problem-solving skills are second-to-none. Born and raised in southern Alberta, from an early age, Hunter has worked with his family’s commercial bear hunting operation. Guiding as soon as he was eligible, he spends several months each year interacting with, and navigating close-encounters with black bears and grizzlies. Similarly, Hunter lives and recreates in an area of the province with high grizzly bear populations. Outside of his outfitter/guide-life, Hunter is a volunteer fire-fighter, through which he frequently responds to medical calls, housefires, and other rescue emergencies. His passion for outdoor adventure, combined with a profound respect for wildlife, give him a well-grounded perspective and a healthy respect for wilderness and biodiversity.

Glenn McDonald

WILDIFE CONFLICT MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST

The most senior member of our team, Glenn’s energy and fitness is only surpassed by his decades of experience with bears and other wildlife. His extensive knowledge and backcountry savvy comes from over six decades of living, working, and playing in the mountains of southern British Columbia. With a lifetime spent in the wilderness, he has developed a deep respect for both wildlife and the land. Born and raised in B.C., with a degree in Renewable Resources Management, Glenn has a long and storied professional background in natural resource management – working with wildlife, forestry, fisheries, range management, ecology/biology, and water resources. Over the course of Glenn’s career, during his guiding expeditions, and his own recreational pursuits, he has navigated countless dangerous grizzly bear and other wildlife encounters. Most importantly, he’s lived to tell about it.

PAUL WEISSER

Wildlife Conflict Management Specialist

An avid outdoorsman, Paul has a long resume of expertise, working and playing in remote wilderness areas across western Canada. Born in Peace River, Alberta, he currently lives in Evansburg, Alberta. His father was a Fish and Wildlife officer and, as such, passed on much of his bushcraft skill and knowledge to Paul, solidifying a true passion and respect of nature, camping, fishing and exploring wild spaces on horseback.

At a young age, Paul began an annual routine of traveling north to guide hunters in the remote wilds of the Northwest Territories. In 1990, he completed the Renewable Resource Management Enforcement program at Lethbridge Community College, immediately after which he began a long and successful career as a Fish and Wildlife officer. With a wealth of experience under his belt, Paul maintains a keen interest in, and understanding of large predatory wildlife. In the latter years of his Fish & Wildlife Career, he became a Predator Response Team Lead, directing a team of officers investigating and mitigating serious predator incidents in the province. After 32 years, he officially retired from his government position and joined the Wild Encounters team.

Heather Wilson

Health & Safety Manager

Co-owner of Wild Encounters, and Kevin’s spouse, Heather spent the majority of her professional career as a Registered Nurse working in intensive care – for over 25 years. As our Health & Safety Manager, she ensures that our staff wellness needs are thoroughly covered. Born and raised in Alberta, Heather also maintains a long roster of outdoor survival and hunting skills. With a passion for bowhunting/gun-hunting big game, and wing shooting, hiking and backpacking, she is well-known as a member of Canada’s outdoor media. Her various outdoor pastimes have exposed her to many close encounters with black bears, Grizzly bears, and a lot of other wildlife. In her spare time, she is also an outdoor writer – for several publications – and team member on Wild TV’s popular Bowzone Live show.

Dean Fraser

Firearms Course Instructor

Born and raised in rural Alberta, Dean’s family history is deeply rooted in the outdoor lifestyle. Hunting, and the shooting sports, have been an integral part of his life for as long as he can remember. Securing his first Firearms Acquisition Certificate (F.A.C.) and rifle at the age of 12, firearms have since become a focal point for his career.

Dean’s earliest professional services involved teaching safe firearms use and marksmanship at a busy commercial gun range in 2003. During that time, he also worked as a Range Safety Officer (R.S.0.) and trained new staff in that capacity as well. In 2005, Dean became a licensed gunsmith and launched his company Tactical Advantage Ltd. Then, in 2006, he became an accredited Canadian Firearms Instructor/Examiner. He has been actively teaching classing, training students and facilitating certification challenges since then. Over the past 15 years he has gained a strong reputation for both his proprietary R.S.O. course and his professional knowledge, skill, and delivery of the Canadian Firearms Safety Course.

In 2014, Dean also began consulting to the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) for their future gunsmithing and related courses.

In part due to his professionalism, but also because he’s excellent with people, we are very pleased to have Dean on our Wild Encounters team.