"I initially earned a degree in sociology with a focus on criminology after high school. I worked as a crew leader for an underground utility installation company for some time before deciding to go back to school to focus on my passion: the natural world. At Front Range Community College and then the University of Colorado I earned a degree in integrative biology.

This is when I began my teaching journey. My first 2 semesters I was on the Dean's / President's list and I was contacted about being hired as a supplemental instructor. I took the position and I began by aiding the professor in classroom work; answering questions, sitting with students and guiding them through assignments, and helping student groups with conceptual problems. After that, I began holding group and individual study sessions both in person and virtually. Not long after I started these, the pandemic hit and I was requested for individual virtual tutoring for 10-12 hours a week. I had multiple students tell me that our sessions gave them the confidence to stay in class rather than drop out, and they all ended up passing with grades they were proud of, and I was proud of them as well.

After graduating from UC Colorado with my biology degree, my wife and I moved to Pennsylvania where she was given a postdoctoral / teaching position at Penn State. So I found a job nearby at a reptile zoo as a zookeeper. Here I have earned certifications working with large crocodilians, Komodo dragons, and all of our various venomous snakes. One of my central responsibilities at the zoo is education. I give at least 1 show to the public everyday which is focused on evolution, ecology, or the general biology of the zoo's collection. The shows might be for a single family or for 200 people, but either way I am as passionate about teaching the public about the natural world as I am for tutoring a single student looking for a career in biology." less...