His devotion to the environment was nurtured by his father and grandfather who had both seen many areas of the world and brought the excitement of foreign cultures and wild animals to many a family dinner conversation (a practice he continues with his children.) However, the word ecotourism was not even coined when he had to make one of life’s early decisions, getting a job, that would at least satisfy his love of geography and employ his skills in economics and business marketing.

So in 1966 he embarked on a career in international banking in London. In 1973 he was hired by a Canadian bank and moved to Toronto, and for the next twelve years worked up to senior management position with experience in many fields of international cash management, foreign exchange, project financing and bank-to-bank services. He was part of a ten person task force that computerized the Foreign Exchange, Money Market and Gold Trading functions of the bank in 1976, the first Canadian bank and the second one in North America to do this. After that project he led another division where he developed in-depth country reports for the bank’s executives and the Board of Directors and his last bank assignment was in the financing of the construction of West Edmonton Mall, the forerunner of the Mall of America.

Personal fortunes found him and his family moving to the US and from May 1993 to April 1996 he and his wife owned and operated a travel agency in Naples, Florida.

In April 1996 he sold the agency to pursue his suppressed desire to be a naturalist by establishing an eco-nature tour company called Orchids & Egrets, Inc., in recognition of the market need for quality, informative ecotours to the Everglades and surrounding areas of South Florida.

Roger is very concerned about, and active in the battle against, urban encroachment. He has expressed his views in the press, emphasizing the true economics of urban sprawl and the challenges from continued development in the industrialized countries.

He was elected to the Board of Directors of The Audubon Society of Collier County in order to assist the Society’s position on the subject of conservation, and as a keen believer in educating the public on the importance of protecting ecosystems rather than individual species. He is also the President of the Friends of the Fakahatchee Strand, a Committee member for the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, and active supporter of the Endangered Species Research Foundation.

It is Roger’s strong belief that the increased interest in ecotours by the general public is a reflection of their concern for the planet and a hopeful sign that a more peaceable world is on the horizon. His presentations are about getting back to our roots both literally and figuratively.

Roger conducts the Florida Wildlife Encounter, Western Everglades and Manatee & Marinelife experiences.