NATURALIST

Rich first became enthralled by the wonders of the natural world around the tide pools and forests of his native New York. Since then, he has embarked on a career in nature education and conservation biology that has ranged from teaching science and environmental awareness to teenagers from Los Angeles, to traveling the coast and river deltas of Alaska’s North Slope by Zodiac to reach remote wetlands where he monitored loon nests.

After such field biology projects as surveys for mammalian carnivores in the mountains of California, bird migration monitoring in Canada, and a study of army-ant-following birds in the Peruvian Amazon, Rich was drawn back to the sea where he taught marine science and island ecology on Catalina Island in California for several years. He has also conducted shipboard surveys for marine mammals and seabirds, as well as tagging studies of sea turtles and pelagic sharks.

Through it all, exploration and sharing nature with others has been his central passion. Rich began working as a guide and educator in nature tourism in 2004, bringing to life the fascinating stories of wildlife and wild places. He is also fascinated with the role nature has played in shaping human cultures around the world, and how each culture both celebrates and impacts nature. 

On any given day, Rich is just as likely to be found excitedly pointing out shrimp-gobies on snorkel expeditions in Indonesia, as he is to be sharing the sights, sounds, and wonders of a seabird nesting cliff in the High Arctic. Rich lives in the city of Minneapolis, where he gets around (almost) everywhere on his bicycle.