Over my 20-year career in academia, I have had the privilege of being a student or research academic at many universities -- including Princeton University, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Eastern Michigan University, Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, and Madison College. As a polymath graduating with highest honors, Summa Cum Laude (3.98 GPA), I earned a second bachelor's degree in Professional Geology with a noncompulsory minor in Earth Science (i.e., hydrologic and atmospheric sciences) from Eastern Michigan University in 2021.As part of my geology field work, I was one of a few individuals competitively selected from outside the University of Alaska to take part in UAF's prestigious summer field geology program. Given that my field work entailed cruising the Alaskan wilderness in bush planes to remote regions of the alpine tundra and learning how to fend against grizzlies, I have anything but a typical geology education. In addition to receiving many academic distinctions (fellowships, scholarships, and awards) across my career and several publications in world-class peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Paleontology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Current Biology, I have also had digital illustrations featured in publications such as Nature, The New York Times, New Scientist, and Discover Magazine. I was a student member of professional organizations such as The Geological Society of America, the American Institute of Professional Geologists, and more. I served approximately 10,000 secondary students over that career and have been lauded by educators in top-rated school districts for my capacity to distill complex ideas into easy to digest metaphors and analogies. No matter whether you are a high school environmental student, a gen-ed fulfilling undergraduate, or a budding geoscientist, if you want to academically succeed, contact me.

In my free time, I enjoy gardening, hiking, board games, and virtual reality.