About the Author

The author of these websites (Airlan San Juan) was a rebellious pre-med student who just wanted to be a biologist.

He was awarded an M.S. in Molecular Biology during his youth, then later collected an MBA (Masters in Business Administration), with a specialization in Information Systems. He became a crusading Java programmer when it first emerged in the mid-1990s, and is a veteran of the early days of Java's evolution from quirky client side applets to heavy server side applications. Java remains an enduring passion for him, with his current (hobby) interest being in the realm of Java Cards and secure elements.

He is also an avid science fiction writer and reader, with a particular liking for such works as Vernor Vinge's Zones of Thought series, Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos, Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space, and especially the Culture novels of the great British writer Iain M. Banks.

In terms of nature and biology, he has a very strong bias towards arthropods and plants (as opposed to vertebrates and other soft squishy things), and this has resulted in a slew of written articles in nature and conservation magazines, ongoing book projects, and a series of personal websites that he has called Lurker's Guides. These websites have reflected his interest in the natural sciences, and his passion for research. They span from the mid-1990s (thus, the really bad HTML and styles) to the present.

If you have any comments or questions, you can reach him at banyanwanderer AT gmail.com