He left the classroom.
Micah was enrolled in an online school. It felt too standardized, and it did not hold his interest. He talked to his teachers about leaving, and they backed him, telling him he could always come back. Around the same time he started a podcast, Nature’s Guardians, and began interviewing the people working to save wild animals.
He wrote a book. And a lot more.
In 2024 Micah gave the local middle school a real try, in person, for a semester. He made good friends and liked being there, but the academics were weak, so he came home. Back on his own, under the banner Rogue Scholar Academy, he spent sixteen weeks researching and writing The State of the Animals Report, guided by ecologist Jim Steele. His projects ranged from the chemistry of the first eighteen elements to a real-estate project, and UK Column interviewed him. He also taught himself to edit video, and has cut his own films ever since. That year, Tyler Cowen’s Emergent Ventures backed him with a $10,000 grant.
The State of the Animals
Data over fear-mongering. Free to download.
Micah has a whole book of these. Read the report →
A turn.
The pull of the school years eased. By the end of 2025 Micah had set his sights on something completely different, and that is what he has been working on since.
Now.
Micah is fifteen. The work of the early years stands, and a new chapter is taking shape. He’ll tell it in his own words soon. Parents, journalists, and mentors reach him directly.