Wildlife Communications Specialist for the ODNR Division of Wildlife working under the H2Ohio Students Take Action initiative.

I was born and raised in the UK (near Southampton, Hampshire), where I developed my love for nature, particularly herpetology - reptiles and amphibians. I have great memories of finding slow-worms (legless lizards) and frogs in my back garden. My love of reptiles was also helped by my family's love of tortoises. We had them as pets, and loved seeing various species of turtle on our travels abroad to Spain and Florida.

Following my studies to become a Zoologist at the University of Southampton, I completed an internship with a local wildlife trust on Grass Snakes (Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust) and spent a few years working for a Hampshire-based ecological consultancy (Hampshire Ecological Services Ltd), where I learned more about the local fauna and flora (admittedly, mostly fauna), particularly snakes, lizards, newts, bats, dormice, and badgers.

I then travelled to South Africa to study for my Masters degree in Ecology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, based in Pietermaritzburg. It was a research-focused Masters degree on Leopard Tortoises in the Karoo; a large tortoise species that inhabits a wide variety of areas. My studies investigated home range, movement and land use patterns on commercial farms in the semi-arid lands near Beaufort West, Western Cape. Two research papers were published from these studies.

It was in South Africa where I met my wife, Morgan, who was studying under the same professor, but researching Cape Vultures in the Eastern Cape. Morgan passed on her love for birds. During our time in South Africa, we explored many places and loved to photograph and document all kinds of species, contributing the local Citizen Science programs (Virtual Museum & SABAP2), while primarily using eBird for our bird sightings.

Following completion of our respective postgraduate degrees, Morgan returned to the States and got a job in Sandusky, OH, and I returned to the UK. Following a long and complicated visa process, I finally moved to the US in late 2018. We have both been enjoying the wonderful wildlife areas of northern Ohio! Our favorite spots in the area are Pipe Creek Wildlife Area, Eagle Point, Sheldon Marsh and Edison Woods (though there are several more great spots).

Since moving here, I have worked for the Lake Erie Islands Nature & Wildlife Center as Road Scholar Director and Nature Center Manager, Erie MetroParks as a Naturalist, and ODNR Division of Wildlife as a Wildlife Communications Specialist.