A fourth generation Coloradan, Mike grew up hiking, climbing mountains and skiing. Since he was ten, birds have had a grip on his soul.
Mike has enjoyed three partly overlapping careers: history professor, executive in the non-profit sector, and freelance writer. He has taught at Stanford, the universities of Illinois and Colorado. He was the first executive director of The Denver Foundation. As a writer he has published four books and over seventy articles: on history, biography, mountaineering, business, natural history, and birds.
In his most recent book, The Ties That Bind: Birds, Nature and Us (2010), Mike tells how he became fascinated with birds and committed to helping them in their struggle to survive. He assesses our environmental dilemmas, and suggests how you can make a difference in solving them. His essays combine openhearted encounters with nature and pointed insights into contemporary culture.
He leads birding trips for two local Audubon chapters, for the Denver Field Ornithologists, and for the Colorado Mountain Club.
On his trips, and in his bird classes, Mike goes beyond identifying birds and considers their wider place in the natural world—a world to which all humans and all creatures belong.