Owen Caddy is an interpretive naturalist, cartographer, and nature illustrator.

One of my chief pleasures is finding new ways to share nature with others, to craft a an illustration, artwork, diagram, map or presentation that will suddenly make complex natural relationships clear. When such relationships lose their mystery, empathy and caring can follow.

As a person who spent much time with nature growing up, I’ve come to realize that to be happy as an adult my work must somehow walk this interpretive path, either visually or verbally.  While short on remuneration, having the wide world as an office has much in the way of benefits.

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With the Minnesota DNR, Owen created canoeing and hiking maps for Trails and Waterways. Owen also developed computer hydropower river and reservoir simulation models. For several years he played Smokey the Bear at the Minnesota State Fair. As a crew member, Caddy spent six months on a NOAA Antarctic research cruise, and spent time at South Georgia Island.
	king penguins, South Georgia Island
macaroni penguins explore a bull elephant seal, South Georgia

While in the Peace Corps, Owen was a Senior Warden for Uganda National Parks, in Murchison Falls National Park. There he trained all the interpretive Rangers for his park and others. He also developed for ecotourism the Rabongo Forest area. There he developed a trail system and amenities, and did the first research study of Rabongo Forest chimpanzees. He also headed the initial bioinventory of plant and animal species within Rabongo Sector of Murchison Falls National Park.

Recovering Ivory, Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda. The elephant had died naturally, and ivory is not left for poachers.

portion of Rabongo map

Charaxes butterfly, Rabongo Forest	Mountain Gorilla, Bwindi Nat'l. Park
O.T. Caddy and fellow ranger at Charumba Gorge, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda

Currently, Owen is a Beach Ranger/Park Ranger for Edmonds, Washington. He does presentations in many classrooms, and tours the beach and rainforest park with student groups. He is also engaged in a biosurvey of the nearby Cascade Mountains.

As an artist, Caddy creates and illustrates interpretive signage for parks throughout the US.

SCUBA divers' map,Edmonds' Underwater Park (greatly reduced)
Ship detail, Interpretive signage, Edmonds beach

detail, waterlogged driftwood and barnacled stone