Mike earned his Ph.D. in ecology from The Ohio State University studying how shifts in dominant plant communities as a result of climate change, lack of disturbance, and invasive species can trickle down into shifts of the herpetological community. His research incorporated the importance of prescribed fire to maintain oak-hickory forests and wetland creation in the form of small vernal pools to help guide best management practices in forestry. His MS was earned from the University of Nebraska where his research focused on the small-mouthed salamander in Nebraska, which represents the northwest extreme of this otherwise common species’ range. He has a love for the Great Lakes, the Appalachian Mountains, and the southeastern coastal plain, where he has focused much of his research and field experience. He currently is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts where he studies spotted turtles and cranberry bog restoration and is an avid grower of carnivorous plants, orchids, and other peculiar species.
