About MIKEY

Author, pilot,
scientist, futurist

Follow me on Instagram here!

AUTHOR

I write science fiction, horror, and commercial thrillers, grounded in firsthand experience from the South Pole to classified defense programs. My debut novel Symbiote (2025) strands a research crew at the South Pole with a rapidly evolving biological threat and no way out. It's book one of the Ice Plague Wars, an Amazon Editor's Pick, and earned a starred review from Library Journal.

The sequel, Sentient (2026), pushes the stakes higher into bioterrorism, psychological warfare, and dark politics.

I also served as the Editor and a contributing author of the Commercial Lunar Economy Field Guide (2025), the authoritative volume on the coming lunar economy, and how to establish it.

Find everything I've published on: my website author page, my Amazon author page, or my Goodreads author page.

PILOT

I'm a graduate of the US Air Force Test Pilot School, trained as a flight test engineer, and I also fly as a certificated flight instructor. I've logged 1,500+ hours across 40+ aircraft, from the F-16 and T-38 to the EA500, worked flight test for the prototype T-7A trainer jet, and have flown an X-plane. I was a two-time NASA astronaut semifinalist. If you'd like to fly with me, either through flight lessons or as a jet hire pilot, reach me through my contact page.

SCIENTIST

I hold a PhD in Earth and Planetary Science from UC Santa Cruz, where I was a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellow, along with graduate degrees in Earth Science, aerospace engineering, and flight test engineering. Across seven years at three NASA centers I worked on the space shuttle and served as flight director for multiple experimental spacecraft. I led a US Antarctic Program field expedition to the South Pole as Principal Investigator and oversaw all research at the Department of Defense's largest telescope facility. My work has been recognized with the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement and the American Astronautical Society's Industrial Leadership Award.

FUTURIST

As Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President for Deep Tech and Exploration at XPRIZE, I design large-scale incentive prizes that pull future technologies forward across space, AI, quantum, robotics, and advanced sensing. Before XPRIZE I was a Program Manager at DARPA, where I built and directed a $700M+ portfolio of nearly two dozen programs. I founded the Department of Defense's first and second lunar research programs, ran its first Very Low Earth Orbit satellite program, and scaled a program to $6.6B in follow-on funding. You can read more about my DARPA work here.

I also run a boutique technology consulting practice, advising a select group of startups and venture funds on deep tech. If you'd like to discuss consulting work, reach me through my contact page. Rates begin at $500/hour.