Jean grew up outside of Seattle Washington in the constant rain, dense forests, and mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Lured by the wild Rocky Mountains, she moved to Montana after high school to attend the University of Montana and gain a degree in Environmental Science and a minor in Wilderness Studies.

She spent the next decade working for various science education organizations in the US and throughout Latin America. She worked as a naturalist for the Nature Conservancy at Pine Butte Guest Ranch along the Rocky Mountain Front, a science educator for NatureBridge on the Olympic Peninsula, and an instructor and program director for Ecology Project International involving high school students in professional research projects, including observing whales in the Sea of Cortez, monitoring sea turtles and gigantic tortoises in the Galapagos Islands, and searching for grizzly bear hairs in Yellowstone National Park. 

In 2013, she earned a Masters in Teaching from Lewis and Clark Graduate school in Portland Oregon and returned to Montana to teach science.  She currently lives in Helena, Montana and teaches biology at Capital High School.  During her summers, she loves spending time all waking hours outdoors – hiking, botanizing, biking, rafting, foraging, paddle boarding – while galivanting in wild landscapes and sleeping under the stars.  If she is not guiding a Dropstone trip, she is likely on an adventure with her husband, step-daughter, and dogs.