Michael Kudish is an author, railroad historian, forest historian,

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, and retired emeritus professor. He received his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in botany in 1971 from the

State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

. His dissertation, on the history of Catskill forests, was the beginning of a lifelong study. It was later expanded and published in book form as ''The Catskill Forest: A History''. His previous degrees included a B.S. from the City College of New York, and an M.S. from Cornell University (1968). As a professor in the Division of Forestry at

Paul Smith's College Paul Smith's College is a private college in the hamlet/village of Paul Smiths, in the town of Brighton, Franklin County, New York, in the Adirondack Mountains. Established in 1946, Paul Smith's College offers academic degrees of Associate ...

, he has written three books on the

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

of the

Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains ( ) are a massif of mountains in Northeastern New York (state), New York which form a circular dome approximately wide and covering about . The region contains more than 100 peaks, including Mount Marcy, which is the hi ...

, including ''Adirondack Upland Flora'', as well as a vast number of articles on forest history of both the Catskills and Adirondacks. As a railroad historian, he wrote ''Where Did The Tracks Go?'', an initial description of railroads in the Adirondacks, followed by ''Railroads of the Adirondacks'', for a long time considered the definitive work on the subject. He has since retired from Paul Smith's College, moved to the Catskills, and has completed a four-volume set on the ''Mountain Railroads of New York State''. It updates ''Railroads of the Adirondacks'' in the first three volumes, and adds a fourth volume covering the Catskills (with a separate Addendum volume of 55 pages).Kudish, Michael, ''Mountain Railroads of New York State, Volume IV: Where Did the Tracks Go in the Catskills? Addendum to Volume 4'', Purple Mountain Press, Fleischmanns, NY, 55 pp., 2017 The Michael Kudish Natural History Preserve in

Stamford, New York Stamford is a town in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 2,000 at the 2020 census.US Census Bureau, 2020 Census, Stamford town, Delaware County, https://www.census.gov/search-results.html?searchType=web&cssp=SERP&q=Sta ...

, is named for him. Dr. Kudish's Catskill notes ar
archived at UVM

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kudish, Michael Living people American naturalists American science writers 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers Paul Smith's College faculty Catskills State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry alumni American foresters Cornell University alumni Forest history Historians from New York (state) Scientists from New York (state) Year of birth missing (living people) American male non-fiction writers