Jeff has been going to Isle Royale for nearly half-a-century. He’s been working with and supporting the Wolf-Moose Project since 2002. For the last 20 years he has been leading groups searching for moose bones with Moosewatch. Jeff is the author of the recently published Dead Moose on Isle Royale: Off Trail with the Citizen Scientists of the Wolf-Moose Project from Michigan State University Press. Jeff loves the Island and meeting all of the people associated with the Project.

Professionally, Jeff used to be a mild-mannered data guy in healthcare in southeast Michigan. He has degrees from Michigan State University and the University of Michigan.

TSN Conference 2026

January 23rd, 2026 (Friday) // 10:00 am – 11:00 am // Room 105 // The Citizen Scientists of the Wolf-Moose Project // Jeffrey Holden has spent a quarter century leading groups on Isle Royale in support of the world’s longest running predator-prey study. Join this session for: a high-level discussion of Isle Royale and its history; the history of the Wolf-Moose Study including how it got started; The Winter Study, including what it entails and how it sets the stage for the Summer Study; The Summer Study, including how the project depends upon volunteers to find dead moose year-in and year out; what volunteers do when they find a dead moose; science of the study; some examples of findings; moose and wolf bone show-and-tell; and a one-chapter book reading.