I climbed my first tree (a white pine in my back yard in New Jersey) when I was 5 years old. I've been playing and working in and around trees ever since.

In an alerce (Fitzroya cuppressoides) tree on Isla Chiloe, Chile.

I grew up on the Massachusetts north shore, where I spent a lot of time roaming the beaches and rocky shores, in summer and winter.

Enjoying a frost-wedged boulder, Marblehead, MA

 It took me about 25 years to get from a high school diploma to a Ph.D., but I have some pretty good excuses. I took a couple of years off to work during my undergraduate years, and finally earned a degree in botany at the University of New Hampshire.

Red trillium or stinking benjamin, Trillium erectum

 I spent the summers in between academic years working on a trail crew in the White Mountains.

Ready for another work week, Rattle River Trail, New Hampshire

 This set me up for my Big Adventure: a two- year stint in New Zealand and Australia, much of it working as a backcountry hut keeper on New Zealand's Milford Track.

Clinton Valley, Milford Track, NZ

 I passed through Malaysia and Nepal on the way home. I trekked around the Annapurna Range then into Everest Base Camp, where I spent New Year's Eve with the British Winter Everest Expedition.

Tengboche Monastery, Ama Dablam (right) and Lhotse (left)

 Not feeling quite ready for grad school, I worked at odd jobs to save enough money for a trip west to hike California's John Muir and Sierra Crest trails...

Half Dome, Yosemite Valley

 then landed a job as a naturalist at the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forest's Lost River Reservation ...

The Hall of Ships, Lost River

summers only. In the winter I worked as a ski patrol and instructor. I still enjoy nordic, telemark, and backcountry skiing.

Free heel skiing, Mt. Mansfield

 Prior to actually moving here, I came to Norway three times, all in winter and spring. On my first trip I skied from Finse to Jotunheimen, and on later trips revisited Jotunheimen and then moved on to Rondane.

Leirho, Jotunheimen, Norway

 In 1984, when I first heard about UVM's Field Naturalist Program, I immediately thought it would be the perfect grad school option for me. The program introduced me to the rich natural history of Vermont,...

Camels Hump at sunrise

 but also included study in Glacier Bay, Alaska, where I was introduced to sea kayaking,...

Reid Glacier terminus, Glacier Bay.

and Costa Rica, where I studied plant-animal interactions with renowned tropical biologist Dan Janzen.

Dan Janzen candling Ateleia herbert-smithii seeds

My wife, Nancy Bazilchuk, was also a field naturalist (we met in New Hampshire shortly before she enrolled in the program), and we now have two girls, Molly and Zoe.

Family & pet

I did my Master's research on the effects of fire and seasonal flooding on Vermont's largest bog, near the mouth of the Missisquoi River in Swanton,Vermont.

Maquam Bog in early November

After completing my Master's degree, I went to work for Art Johnson of the University of Pennsylvania, running a series of ambitious field experiments on effects of acid deposition on red spruce.

Art Johnson in the 'Hotel Abtao', Sierra de Piuchue, Chile

The experiments involved working in tree canopies, 15 to 20 meters above the ground, to enclose branches in teflon chambers that we used to exclude or introduce pollutants.

A branch chamber, Whiteface Mountain, NY

 I also helped with Art's biogeochemistry research in Chile and Puerto Rico

A muddy field crew, Sierra de Luquillo (El Yunque), Puerto Rico

I studied the causes of winter injury in red spruce trees and graduated as the School of Natural Resources' first-ever Ph.D.

Severe winter injury in red spruce

To celebrate my success, I took a little time out to build a Pygmy Osprey plywood-fiberglass composite sea kayak, which I learned to roll at the ripe old age of -- never mind.

A so-so roll, but it works!

From 1999 to 2002 I worked at Johnson State College, where I taught biology, botany, forest ecology, natural history, and evolutionary biology.

My main man.