Naturalist Guides

Stephanie Joseph
Service Guide

Born in the province of Heredia on August 17th, 1985, Stephanie’s father was a sociologist and her mother was a full time mom.

When she was a little girl Stephanie wanted to be a vet, she loved animals in general but especially dogs. After graduating from high school, she trained to become a guide and in the process of visiting Costa Rica’s parks and reserves became even more convinced that she wanted to spend as much time as possible outdoors, surrounded Costa Rica’s forests. She went on to get a degree in Tropical Biology from the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica (UNA) and is currently finishing her Masters at the University of Costa Rica in Ecotourism and Environmental Management from the University of Costa Rica (UCR).

After graduating she decided that her mission is to serve as a facilitator for young people teaching them about our ecosystems and conservation. To date (Nov 2015) she has five years of experience leading groups of youngsters in middle school and high school coming from the United States and Canada. She teaches them about our forests, and the impact of conservation and also works with them on community service projects.

Her other passion is stingless bees, she has worked as a research assistant at the university and says that she wants to be a beekeeper when she grows up.

Stephanie has been guiding for Costa Rica Expeditions since 2014, they tell us how surprised they are that someone so young could have such breadth of knowledge. She is delighted to add people from all over the world, ages, cultures and backgrounds to her mission to teach about the importance of preserving the environment.

When she’s not guiding, Stephanie loves to spend time in her vegetable and herb garden, swimming, doing yoga and spending time with friends and family.