Michael joined DSF as their Fisheries Biologist in the spring of 2022 after completing his MSc in Fisheries Science at Oregon State University. His work covers a wide range of areas, including habitat restoration, species-specific research, and monitoring. By combining his experience from a previous career in the fire service & emergency management with an education in fisheries science & management, he brings a mitigation-focused approach to environmental issues. He strongly believes that realistic, workable solutions to environmental problems can be found when stakeholders work together towards common goals.
He has undergraduate degrees in emergency management (University of Richmond) and fisheries & wildlife science (Oregon State University). His graduate work focused on modeling the risk of hybridization occurrence between native and introduced salmonids based on physical stream characteristics, combined with species habitat use and distribution. The results of his graduate work, “Assessing Hybridization Risk Between ESA-Listed Native Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus) and Introduced Brook Trout (S. fontinalis) Using Habitat Modeling” were published in Frontiers In Environmental Science in March, 2022, and have presented at national and international conferences. He also has experience working for the US Forest Service as a Biological Field Technician (Aquatics) and as a Naturalist Intern at Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve in Virginia.
Originally from Vermont, he and his wife Kathy (originally from Rhode Island) are happy to be back in New England with their three dogs: Pia & Primy the Pugs, and Nebi the Chesapeake Bay Retriever. When not at work he enjoys working on their 200 year-old home, outdoor activities, and spends much of his time volunteering with Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, a program that uses fly fishing and related activities to help veterans heal from service related trauma.
“Be curious, and however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.” ~Stephen Hawking
