I grew up in the eastern deciduous forests of Virginia, where I would stare out the window in the winter, hooting for barred owls and wonder…why are some of those trees still green? I nurtured my evergreen conifer fascination in the Appalachian Mountains during college and, upon graduation, found a job teaching outdoor education in California.
Sans family, alone in the West, I began to hang out with giant sequoias and foxtail pines on weekends. The high country conifers of southern California entertained me for many years until the temperate rainforest eventually called me north to Humboldt County. I now live in Kneeland, California with my crafty wife, Allison, and two boys, Sylas and Asa.
I work as a devoted educator with the Fortuna Elementary School District, a curriculum specialist with Save the Redwoods League, the founder and president of the Bigfoot Trail Alliance, owner of Backcountry Press, and research ecologist with the California Native Plant Society.
Above all, I am driven to connect people with the natural world through questioning, observing, adventuring, and documenting.

The first comprehensive regional natural history is here!
Edited by Michael Kauffmann and Justin Garwood.