Born and raised in Southern California, Max has been interested in wildlife—especially birds—since he was 12 years old. He continued developing his birding and photography skills throughout high school, which inspired him to study wildlife conservation in college and pursue a career as a naturalist working on avian ecology and conservation projects. Max has extensive experience birding across San Diego, other parts of Southern California, and southeast Arizona, and he enjoys sharing these landscapes and their birdlife with others. He is deeply involved in the San Diego birding community, has led and participated in numerous Christmas Bird Counts, and began mentoring young birders through Palomar Audubon at age 14.
Max has contributed to many avian research projects across the western United States, including point count and transect surveys in several national parks throughout the Southwest. He has also worked on ecological studies involving farmland bird communities in Central California and has participated in other biological research from California to Washington.
In his free time, Max can often be found patch birding or chasing native and rare species.
