Nils Pedersen grew up with sled dogs in Fairbanks, Alaska. He understood the utility of working dogs for bear deterrence at a young age because of a photo that his grandpa showed him of one of his Greenland Husky dogs chasing a young polar bear away from camp. Pedersen began working with the Wind River Bear Institute (WRBI) in 2011 as the trainer and handler of Karelian Bear Dog, “Soledad”. Together they have worked to address human-bear conflict issues with all three species of North American bear: grizzly, black, and polar bear. Pedersen completed a M.Sc. degree in Wildlife Biology and Conservation from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2019. His research focused on human-grizzly bear conflict in the North Slope oil fields of Alaska and the use of Forward Looking Infrared-equipped drones for grizzly and polar bear den detection in the Arctic. Pedersen owns and operates the WRBI kennel in Fairbanks, Alaska. In his spare time he guides for Arctic Dog Adventure Co., an ecotourism dog mushing company he founded together with his partner, Lisbet Norris.
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