- Education: The Pennsylvania State University, B.L.A., Landscape Architecture, minor in Spanish, The Johns Hopkins University, M.S., Environmental Sciences and Policy, Temple University, Ph.D., Urban Studies (candidate).
Upon graduating from Penn State, Mike received a scholarship that in the past, recipients have used for a week of travel to study a famous design space or site. Mike instead took the opportunity to plant himself deep in the Central American rainforest where he spent three months criss-crossing the continental divide, living without electricity, and milking goats as member of a self-sufficient mountaintop community in an effort to understand the many opportunities for ecotourism and “VolunTourism.” After a brief time back in the U.S., Mike returned to Central America with the Peace Corps in Honduras, where he focused on a program of municipal development and ecotourism. Resettling in Baltimore post Peace Corps, Mike worked for several years at an urban planning firm focusing on designing LEED/green-buildings, some of which are currently under construction in Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, and New York. While working, Mike also completed his MS degree, which took him to such far-flung places as Nanjing, China to study sustainable water resources and issues. Presently, Mike is pursuing a Ph.D. at Temple University in Philadelphia, continuing to focus on issues of climate change, sustainability, and green building practices. Mike is fluent in Spanish. He has led Community Service Costa Rica.
