I enjoy connecting people with nature and creating “aha moments” that give insight into the previously unknown.

Growing up in Sacramento, I took an early interest in nature exploring the Central Valley, the Sierra Nevada, and the California coast. My first true nature fascination was with wolves. While I still find wolves captivating, my interests have expanded considerably to include wildflowers, geology, insects, and especially, birds (and many other topics). I have been fortunate to live in the Lake Tahoe area full-time since 2006. In 2009, I received a Master of Biology degree from the University of Nevada, Reno where I was the teaching assistant for Field Ornithology and developed a four-week high school curriculum on the ecology of the Great Basin.

My field research has taken me to central Oregon where I developed and conducted a field study on Lewis’s Woodpeckers. My data was used to implement the first successful nest boxes for Lewis’s Woodpeckers in the country. I also worked with Gunnison Sage-Grouse in Colorado and performed breeding bird surveys in Oregon, Nevada, and California. My years as an environmental educator brought me to the Wolf Education and Research Center, Bird Alliance of Oregon (formerly Portland Audubon), and Great Basin Outdoor School.

In 2010, I co-founded the Tahoe Institute for Natural Science, a nonprofit that provides science education and nature experiences. I wore many hats during my seven years there, including Executive Director and Director of Science Education. The science programs developed during my time there regularly received “outstanding” reviews from teachers and reached 5,000-6,000 students yearly.

In 2010, I also became an adjunct professor at Sierra Nevada University where I taught field courses, primarily in ornithology, until it was folded into the University of Nevada, Reno in 2023. I have been leading multi-day nature tours since 2005 in the U.S. and internationally that focus primarily on birds, but also include geology and other topics that each location uniquely presents. I have led birding tours throughout California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.

My hobbies are birding, traveling, snowboarding, biking, cooking, and spending time with my wife and kids.