Scott Dean, naturalist and photographer, has been apart of both UNCA & the Great Smoky Mountain Spring Pilgrimages for years, and as well as a teacher for field classes in the Blue Ridge Naturalist program at the NC Arboretum. 

 

Scott was born and raised in the mountains of southern Appalachia, specifically the coalfields of West Virginia and southwestern Virginia. Western North Carolina has been his home since 1992. He attended UNC-Asheville, earning a degree in biology, with a focus on the flora, fauna and geology of the southern Appalachians. He was a walk leader and featured speaker for the UNC-Asheville Wildflower Scott Dean Pilgrimage from 1995 until 2015. Scott has led wildlife and wildflower walks at the Western North Carolina Nature Center, where he worked for a year building the cougar and bobcat habitats, and has served as First Vice President of the Friends of the Nature Center as well as serving on the Town of Weaverville Tree Board. He developed curricula, and teaches field classes for the Blue Ridge Naturalist program now offered at the N. C. Arboretum.