The EARTHQUEST Biological Field School arose out of the need to provide professional skill upgrades to fill the gaps in the environmental industry which cannot be provided from traditional colleges and universities and to fill the skill shortages. The founder of the school - Dave Jolly - has spent nearly three decades working in Canada and the USA, traveling to Central and South America as well as southeast Asia to study tropical rain-forests, primates, birds, medicinal plants and ethnobotany. Additionally, he has worked in the private, public and education sectors for environmental consulting firms, Conservation Authorities provincial and federal governments honing his skills in the environmental sciences.