Jim and his wife, Kathleen Morgan, founded EWT in 1976 and continue to own and manage the enterprise. Jim has spent his entire career focused on Africa, where he spends up to half of each year.

Jim's passion for East Africa began in the mid 1970s on contract with the Kenyan Government. Prior to that he held positions in UNESCO in Paris and with other NGOs in Europe.

Jim guides a number of private and public safaris each year, and has taken visitors to more than 38 African countries, authored three guidebooks on Africa and is a regular speaker at ecotourism and developmental conferences. His list of awards is impressive, including Rotarian of the Year, 1988 for having begun a number of charitable projects in Arusha, Tanzania, including building its first private hospital.

There are few leading guides that can match his wealth of experience and his ability to enlighten. He has the rare gift of being able to lead a safari while setting his listeners on fire with passionate, intellectual briefings on wildlife, history and palaeontology of East Africa, with laughs around the campfire in equal measure.

Jim and Kathleen live in a beautiful forest near the Mississippi River in Galena, Illinois. They have two grown children.