Get to know SEFS staff! This series provides an opportunity to find out more about SEFS staff members — what they do in their daily job and how they spend their time outside the office.

What is your role at SEFS?

I’ve been a research consultant here for 25 years working mostly as a database manager and website developer.  I came on board when (former SEFS professor) Dave Peterson brought me on to the USGS Cascadia Field Station team and transitioned to the USFS Fire and Environmental Research Applications Team around 2003 where I’ve been ever since.

Tell us about your road to SEFS

I moved to Seattle in 1998 from the Washington, D.C. area where I was working with the wildlife monitoring group at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center.  My main project there was building out the database and website for their North American Amphibian Monitoring Project (patterned after the Breeding Bird Survey), which I continued to work on for a few years after moving here. I contacted Dave Peterson due to the USGS connection and asked if he had any free desks. He did and ended up hiring me when my contract back east ended.

Tell us about your college experience

I went to University of Michigan for both undergrad (Math) and grad school (MS Terrestrial Ecology). My Master’s Thesis dealt in habitat modeling of the American Redstart.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C. 

What are your favorite ways to spend time outside of work?

Walking my dog Zooey, gardening, running, yoga, hiking, cooking, and spending time with my family.

What inspires you?

Birds will always light me up and art of all kinds: live music, museum installations, theater, good writing. The throughline is connection with other living beings.