Born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, Michael is an award-winning photographer & author specializing in marine wildlife and environmental issues. He lives in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and for the last 24 years has traveled extensively worldwide photographing diverse aquatic animals, habitats and man's impact on them. He has written and photographed seven non-fiction marine life books designed to encourage school children to read, write and become involved in science and conservation. They have received outstanding reviews from School Library Journal and are distributed nationally in the educational system. To learn more about his books, please visit Batfish Books (www.batfishbooks.com). When not making photographs or writing, he is on the lecture circuit promoting a greater appreciation for the natural world, especially the oceans and their inhabitants. He has presented to over 500,000 kids in more than 400 schools in the US in the last 15 years. His images have appeared in hundreds of publications worldwide including BBC Wildlife, National Geographic Magazine, and The New York Times, among many others, and have won the most prestigious competitions, including Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Pictures of the Year (POYi).