It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Michael G. Petit. On June 27th, he succumbed to complications of liver cancer. He leaves behind his wife Violette Petit, sister Suzy VanderKlok, a daughter, as well three sons and two grandchildren.
Michael was born in Brooklyn NY in 1938. He enlisted in the Navy and served in San Diego as a corpsman. After his Navy service, he graduated from the University of California San Diego and in 1969 received his PhD in physical chemistry from the University of California Santa Barbara. In 1970 he took a teaching position at Colorado State University. While there, he worked on two major bat related research projects that required field research in the jungles of Mexico and the American southwest. In 1984 he founded his own patent law practice in Santa Barbara specializing medical and highly technical patent applications. Michael 'retired' to Long Island in 2007 and taught chemistry at Suffolk County Community College as an adjunct professor. He will be deeply missed as a brother, husband, father and by his extended family. The world is slightly less interesting than it was before.
Memorial to be determined. Donations in his name can be made to Bat Conservation International.