what it was like to climb a tree or catch fireflies as a kid? Born in the small mountain town of Salida, Colorado and raised in the midwest, I caught my first snake when I was six, cloned paramecia at 14, published science papers while an undergrad...
Storyteller
First and foremost I am a storyteller ...Some of my stories concern my own research. Others are the discoveries of other scientists. My favorite stories come from remote parts of the earth and often have never been told before...
Some have required that I use my wits to survive... eating scorpions, rats, spiders, and beetle grubs with the native peoples of five continents... ascending trees to escape elephants...
... discovering an Aztec burial chamber populated with blind cave tarantulas... tracking down a frog so lethal that a mere touch can kill... using blowguns to defend against drug lords...
... accidentally sitting on the deadliest snake of the Americas, a fer-de-lance.
The cartoon of this last event, below, was published in the National Geographic...
I grew up to become an ecologist with a passion for exploration, photography and writing ...one of a lucky few to receive a Ph.D. under the poet of conservation EO Wilson, who kindly spoke about me on CSPAN. In 2009 I returned the favor by presenting Ed with a sculpture of one of my images as an Explorers Club lifetime award. Read my tribute to Ed here.