At Larkwire, we're passionate about birds, learning, and conservation.
- Birds
- What can we say? Birds thrill us. Chickadees perching on a tent flap. A Peregrine Falcon calling from a tree overhead. A Malachite Kingfisher diving for its breakfast. These are nature's art and we love them.
- Learning
- Learning is one of life's great pleasures. It's our passion to build great products that make learning easier and more fun.
- For the planet
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To love nature in our times is to love something under siege. It's not only that species are being driven to extinction at an unprecedented and accelerating rate. Wilderness itself is vanishing and whole ecosystems are being lost.
And yet, there are wonderful signs of change and inspiring examples of people who are turning this around. Modern conservation efforts have become sophisticated and remarkably effective. We just need more of them.
It's our mission to fund more of them. That's why we pay "royalties to the planet". At least 10% of every purchase goes to support front-line conservation efforts. We're still figuring out exactly how this will work, but it's our reason for being in business.
- Our team
Phil Mitchell is Larkwire's founder and learning expert. He has
a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology and over 15 years experience developing
software. He is very active in Seattle's sustainability and climate change communities. An avid naturalist, when Phil is not out backpacking, he's dreaming about it. 
Mark Johnston is our resident birdsong expert. A master birder and active
teacher and trip leader, for two decades his focus has been on birding by ear
and the ecology of avian bioacoustics. Mark is active in conservation, having
served on the boards of the Sierra Club-Washington State Chapter and the
Alaska Coalition of Washington. A native of Washington State, he lived in
Alaska for several years and continues to have a passion for preserving
wilderness there.
Michael O'Brien is lead author for Larkwire's North American songpacks and our
top North American birdsong expert. Considered one of the finest field birders
in North America, he has a passionate interest in bird vocalizations and field
identification, and a serious addiction to migration and nocturnal
birding. Michael co-authored The Shorebird Guide and America's 100 Most Wanted
Birds, and contributed artwork to the latest editions of both the National
Geographic and Peterson field guides. His CD-ROM, Flight Calls of Migratory
Birds, created with Bill Evans, is considered the Rosetta Stone of that
subject and is being used to identify nocturnal migrants at acoustical
monitoring stations throughout eastern North America. Michael shares his
strong conservation ethic while leading tours and workshops for Victor Emanuel
Nature Tours, Cape May Bird Observatory, and at various birding festivals.
Larkwire is based in Seattle, WA in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. For contact information, please visit our Support page.