Michael joined UCCE on October 1, 2018 as the Forestry Advisor for Sonoma, Mendocino, and Lake Counties. He specializes in forest entomology and disturbance ecology with a focus on forest health and integrated pest management of invasive and endemic forest pests. He completed a Ph.D. in Entomology from State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a B.S. in Environmental Biology and Management from UC Davis. Prior to joining UCCE, Michael was a Research Project Assistant (graduate student) at State University of New York. He developed and maintained research projects on delimitation, management, and biological control of the invasive forest pest emerald ash borer in New York. From 2010 to 2013, he was a research associate in the Department of Entomology, UC Davis in collaboration with the US Forest Service, Forest Health Protection in southern California. Michael participated in a variety of forest pest research projects involving the detection, evaluation, and management of native and invasive forest pests, including goldspotted oak borer. He has been active in leading training activities for land managers and owners in the field identification and management of forest pests, and training and supervising field crews in the collection of forestry data. Michael's journey in forest health started as an undergraduate at UC Davis, where he worked on sudden oak death in the department of Plant Pathology. His experiences in forest health, disturbance ecology, forest ecology, and management have given him the skills to be of service to landowners and managers who want to implement good forest stewardship practices that help create healthy and sustainable forests that are resilient to disturbances such as insects, diseases, fire, and climate chance.