Paul has been a zoologist with the Montana Natural Heritage Program since 1996. After spending most of his formative years in Billings, Montana, Paul received his education at the University of Montana in Missoula (B.A., M.A.) and Washington State University in Pullman (Ph.D.); graduate research focused on the foraging and breeding ecology of American Pipits on the Beartooth Plateau of Wyoming and Montana, but also included field work on wintering neotropical migrants in western Mexico, desert woodpeckers in Arizona and Mexico, Bristle-thighed Curlew on Laysan Island, Golden-crowned Sparrow on the Alaskan Peninsula, and Harris's Sparrow in the Thelon Game Sanctuary, Northwest Territories. He was made an Elective Member of the American Ornithologists' Union in 2006.

Paul has a broad interest in natural history; his work for the Natural Heritage Program has allowed him to pursue this interest with a variety of invertebrates (tiger beetles, land mollusks, millipeds) as well as the vertebrates (birds, small terrestrial mammals, bats, herps) with which he is most familiar. He has over 70 publications, including co-authorship of SNVB Northwest Fauna No. 5 and the book "Amphibians and Reptiles of Montana" (Mountain Press 2004). When not working, he is pursuing birds and alpine experiences with his wife and dogs, hiking, and writing haiku.