Brent nixon naturalist

Brent A. Nixon 36, of Louisville, KY. passed away Monday April 27, 2020 at his home.

Brent was born February 9, 1984 in Huntingburg, IN. to Michael and Sharon Nixon, and was preceded in death by his father and a brother Daniel.

Brent graduated from Heritage Hills class of 2002 and attended Indiana University to study lighting and sound. He traveled to with the band Sum 41, and traveled to 38 countries as their lighting director.

After living in California for a year, he returned home and was presently employed by Axxis Audio Visual in Louisville as the Lighting Director.

He is survived by his mother Sharon of Santa Claus, IN., a brother Dave (Orpha) Nixon of Santa Claus, a sister Stacy (Chris) Clark of Louisville, KY.

Funeral Services will be private.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to the Santa Claus United Methodist Church, 351 N. Holiday BLVD., Santa Claus, IN. 47579

Fuller Funeral Home (www.fullersfh.com) is handling arrangements.

Brent is the owner/operator of Vancouver Mountain Guides. He has been climbing for 35 years and enjoys all climbing disciplines from ice climbing and big wall climbing, to bouldering and sport climbing.

Currently, he is an ACMG Apprentice Alpine Guide with certifications in Avalanche Level 1 Operations, Advanced Avalanche Search & Rescue, and Guide Medic First Responder First Aid 80hrs.

In the spring 2017, Brent bolted and redpointed the first ascent of Vancouver's first 5.13 rockclimb (Antisocial Media). In the winter of 2018, with Eric Hughes, he enchained the first one day free ascent of the ice/mixed routes The Theft WI6 M7+ 300m and The Gift WI5+ 300m in the Bridge River Canyon, BC.

His first ascents include boulder problems, trad lines in Squamish, sport routes in Skaha, and ice routes in the Rockies. Together with his wife and friends, he bolted and FA’d the longest route in North America, Guaranteed Rugged 10c 33 pitches. Instagram

Brent Nixon, the esteemed naturalist and guest speaker, will be sailing on select Celebrity Solstice cruises to Alaska this summer, giving specialized talks to guests about whales packed with information about each species’ social structure, feeding habits and preferred environment.

A former military instructor who’s taught classes on wilderness and high-altitude survival for more than 30 years, Nixon is also an expert about a number of species including bears, kangaroos, crocodiles and sea otters, and has given over 1,500 nature presentations throughout the course of his career.

Now based in the Cashmere/Leavenworth valley of Washington State, Nixon spends roughly 40% of his year guest speaking for Celebrity Cruises, public schools and community groups all over the country and the world.

We recently caught up with Brent to talk about his experiences and partnership with Celebrity cruises.

How did you begin giving nature talks?

I use to be a green beret instructor for the military and taught survival in jungle, desert and high-altitude cold weat