Michael Hurben is uniquely qualified to guide the curious through the exotic habitat where physics and birding intersect. He earned his PhD in physics from Colorado State University in 1996 and has accumulated a life list exceeding 5,000 bird species - despite being legally blind. His career has included award-winning teaching at the college level and decades of cutting-edge, nanoscale engineering in the high-tech magnetic recording industry. He and his wife Claire live in Minnesota.