Chraig Howard Reiser has been a professional wildlife biologist for over a quarter century – his poetry weathering slowly within the rapidly changing landscape of southern California.   He has completed boot-bound surveys of several thousand discrete locations scattered throughout the Southwest, accumulating thorough checklists of the fascinating flowering plants and vertebrate animals found at each site, with a focus on discovering heretofore unknown populations of endangered or threatened species that might pose future environmental concerns.  

He has also accumulated a photo-flora of the several thousand species of plants in the region,  as an indispensable resource that supports these studies.  Typically Chraig utilizes macro-photographs taken from only inches away to pinpoint the unique qualities of each plant or animal. It is this emphasis on scientific inquiry, passion for detail, and an aesthetic curiosity that has fashioned many of his poems.

Whether edging along precipitous wind-beaten beach cliffs, slogging up muddy  chaparral and pine-forested slopes, or hot-footing down torrid desert canyon drainages, Chraig has been blessed with an opportunity both to explore and to acknowledge the gorgeous world that still simmers at the edge of our cities. 

Chraig Reiser currently lives in Spring Valley, California, with his wife Elaine, their daughter Alaina Tatiana, and son Evan.