Kaden grew up in Ogden, Utah, spending winters skiing with his family and summers swimming in Lake Powell. His roots trace back to the original Mormon settlers of the area, and most of his family lives just north of Salt Lake City. Living between the Wasatch Range and the Great Salt Lake impressed upon Kaden the vital role that water plays in the arid Great Basin Desert. This fascination with the role of water within ecosystems continues to shape his passion for conservation. Many of his defining experiences in nature came during seven summers spent guiding and teaching at a Boy Scouts of America camp in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

After serving for two years in South Korea with the LDS Church, Kaden earned a degree in religious studies and anthropology with a minor in interfaith leadership from Utah State University in Logan. His academic background fuels his interest in the cultural dimensions of the places he explores, and he brings that lens to every trip he leads.

Kaden joined Natural Habitat Adventures in 2022 as an Expedition Leader in national parks across the American Southwest as well as in Wyoming, Montana and Maine. He is based in Bozeman, Montana, and spends his free time snowboarding, birding, biking and climbing. He especially enjoys the chance to spot one of his favorite animals—the North American beaver.