I was born near Buffalo, NY in 1983, but my family moved to Lancaster County, PA when I was two. I grew up in the heart of Amish Country (but no, I am not Amish — I actually get asked that question sometimes). I was active in Boy Scouts, which is where I got my love of the outdoors from, and enjoyed science for as long as I can remember. During high school I also sang in the school choir, performed in the musical, ran track and played lacrosse, and participated in science fairs.
In 2002 I moved to Penn State to study astronomy. It was here that I truly fell in love with education and public outreach as well as research. I was a rabid football fan (and still am, though as you can see I cut my hair), sang in the University Choir, and wrote opinion pieces for the school newspaper, the Daily Collegian.
I began graduate school at the University of Virginia in 2006. I was sad to leave Penn State but I quickly fell in love with UVA and the city of Charlottesville. Grad school took up a lot of time but I got involved in lots of great outreach projects and still managed to enjoy myself in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and the rest of central Virginia. In 2008 I got married to my high school sweet heart (awwww). I received my Ph.D. from UVA in 2011. Charlottesville had really become a home for my wife and I, but we were excited to start the next stage in our lives.
In 2011 we moved to Montreal, QC so that I could begin a postdoc at McGill University. This is our first time living in a large city. Though I do miss the country and mountains from time to time, Montreal is a really fun place to live, with tons of amazing things to do and see, so we are definitely enjoying ourselves. We've been trying to learn some French, but we haven't had much luck so far. Luckily, Montreal is very bilingual. Where life will take us next is anyone's guess!
