Christopher Leahy
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Christopher W. Leahy currently holds the Gerard A. Bertrand Chair of Natural History and Field Ornithology at the Massachusetts Audubon Society. He has been a professional conservationist for more than thirty-five years and co-founded Mass Audubon's Center for Biological Conservation. His comprehensive interest in natural history began in childhood, and he is a recognized authority on birds and insects. His published works include The Birdwatcher's Companion to North American Birdlife (Princeton University Press, 2nd edition, 2004), The First Guide to Insects in the Peterson series (Houghton-Mifflin), Introduction to New England Birds (Mass Audubon), and The Nature of Massachusetts (Addison-Wesley), and he is the editor of a series of authoritative volumes on the natural history of New England. Chris was instrumental in the creation of one of the world's first natural history travel programs at Mass Audubon in the early 1970s and has designed and led natural history explorations to more than 70 countries on all of the continents. He is especially fascinated with the world's great remaining wilderness areas and biodiversity hot spots, especially those with rich indigenous cultures such as Mongolia, Bhutan, Gabon, and Madagascar. He first visited Mongolia in 1982 and has been making almost annual visits since 1994, creating itineraries to parts of the country previously little visited by foreigners. Chris's first career was as a professional actor, beginning when he was 10 years old. In his twenties he worked on stage, in film, and on television in New York City performing in such well-known venues as the Public Theater, The New York Shakespeare Festival, Café LaMama, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He grew up in the seaside town of Marblehead, Massachusetts and has lived in nearby Gloucester with his family since the 1970s.