Meet the Candidates! Mike Bottini for Trustee

MEET THE CANDIDATES! Please follow our blog as we continue to profile each of the Republican candidates running for office this election year. Please vote on November 5th. We are the party of the people!

Mike Bottini resides in Springs and currently works as a wildlife biologist, writer, outdoor educator, environmental consultant, swim instructor and ocean lifeguard. After completing graduate studies in wildlife ecology at the University of British Columbia, Mike worked for fourteen years at the Group for the South Fork, a non-profit environmental advocacy organization. He taught field ecology, environmental science, and natural history courses at St. Lawrence University, Southampton College, CUNY, and the Ross School, published three books about this area (Exploring East End Waters: A Natural History and Paddling Guide; Trail Guide to the South Fork; and The Walking Dunes: East Hampton’s Hidden Treasure), and writes a nature column for the East Hampton / Southampton Press. Mike's wildlife research studies have included elk, spotted and tiger salamanders, spotted turtles, piping plovers, and river otters.

As chairman of the Springs CAC (1999-2001), Mike successfully lobbied for additional protected open space in that hamlet. He is also a member of the Town’s Bike Committee, and founder and board member of Spokespeople of Eastern Long Island, a cycling advocacy organization working to create safer cycling conditions on the east end. Despite securing a $10 million federal grant for a bike path between Amagansett and Southampton Village, he has not been able to get a single pro-bike project completed in this area.

Mike has extensive experience on, and knowledge about, the water and beaches. His experience includes 14 years as an ocean lifeguard, seven years as a sailing instructor and licensed U.S. Coast Guard captain, a trans-Atlantic sail, five years cultivating and selling oysters in Napeague Harbor, and 25 years leading nature paddles on the east end. He researched and wrote publications on stormwater runoff and on-site septic systems for the Peconic Baykeeper, and on groundwater protection for the Group for the South Fork. Mike is member of East Hampton Volunteer Ocean Rescue, group that promotes water safety and responds to swimmers in distress calls when lifeguards are off-duty.