Jim has a Master’s degree in ecology from San Francisco State University where he was appointed the Director of its Sierra Nevada Field Campus. He served in that capacity for 25 years, building its environmental education program and researching the effects of regional climate change on bird populations as part of the Sierra Nevada Neotropical Migratory Bird Riparian Habitat Monitoring project for the United States Forest Service. Jim’s research culminated in the successful restoration of the Carman Creek watershed and its wildlife. In addition to lecturing at the university, he also taught science at inner-city schools.