Sachacari

Growing Up

I grew up in Orkney, a farming and fishing community between Scotland and Norway 6 degrees south of the Arctic Circle. Through the year I worked on the family farm, and in summers I worked on a crab boat (think Deadliest Catch with cooler accents).

Education

At the University of Aberdeen, I studied Tropical Environmental Science, which included an undergraduate field research expedition to Trinidad. One year later I gained a Masters degree in Tropical Soils and Sustainable Land Management from the University of Newcastle, which included a field research expedition to Tanzania. Between the two degrees I spent a year working as a conservation volunteer on a private Cloud Forest Reserve in Costa Rica and as a naturalist guide in the Peruvian Amazon.

Working in the Amazon

After completing my Masters degree I spent 4 years working as a naturalist guide in the Ecuadorian Amazon at Sacha Lodge before moving to California in 2002. Sacha Cari comes from the Quichua for "Wilderness" "Man"

Current Employment

Since 2003 I have been teaching biology, ecology, and conservation at West Valley College, and microbiology, and California Native Plants and Cañada College. Last year at Cañada College I created the curriculum for a new course in Sustainable Land Management. My wife, also a biology teacher, and I have travelled extensively to view nature, including trips to Madagascar, Borneo, Malaysia, Thailand, Peru, and South Africa. We have co-lead student field trips to Costa Rica and Ecuador. Currently I teach biology at West Valley College, and Cañada College, and an evening class at UC Berkeley Extension.

Hobbies

Each spring I volunteer for the California Native Plant Society and San Mateo County Parks, identifying and recording information on the distribution and abundance of rare native plants in San Mateo County. I am also an active iNaturalist documenting plants and fungi wherever I find them

/sandbox