If you’re looking for my North Star, it isn’t in a peer-reviewed journal. My life is centered on my family. They are the reason I prioritize growth, not just on a CV, but as a human being trying to leave the world slightly better than I found it.
Outside of the lab, I am a chronic "maker" with a restless need to understand how things fit together. I am a drummer (mostly for the rhythm, occasionally for the noise), a gardener, a leather crafter, a storyteller, and a home builder. I’ve spent enough time in construction and ag shops to know that "measure twice, cut once" is a philosophy for life, not just for lumber.
In the kitchen, I’m an amateur cook and an avid bread baker. My sourdough starter is, quite literally, one of the longest-running relationships of my life; it requires more daily maintenance than most of my professional certifications, but the results are significantly more delicious. I am a traveler at heart, always exploring new landscapes but perpetually searching for that elusive sense of "home", wherever the craic is grand and the people are real.
While I am irreverent about my own hobbies, I am deeply serious about the science of agriculture. With a PhD in Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications, my research focuses on the high-stakes intersections of human safety and technology. I specialize in hearing safety in agriculture, disaster preparedness for farming communities, and the integration of Agricultural Technology and Mechanical Systems (ATMS).
I spent almost a decade as a high school agricultural mechanic teacher before moving into research and faculty life. That experience left me with a high tolerance for technical complexity but a very low tolerance for fluff. I prefer radical honesty, empirical evidence, and the cold clarity of a well-run statistical model. Whether I’m building a microcontroller for environmental monitoring or developing a safety curriculum, I believe the best solutions are rooted in logic, verified facts, and a healthy dose of systems thinking.