About

I grew up in the burgeoning metropolis of Delta, Utah.  I spent a majority of my youth puttering around the western Utah desert, where I earned a deep appreciation for the stark beauty of the Basin and Range.  After graduating highschool, I joined the national guard as a cannon crew member on 155 mm towed howiter in order to pay college.  I served a tour in Iraq (Ar-Ramadi Province) in 2005-2006.  After returning home, I bounced between Southern Utah University and Utah Valley University. Shy 1 or 2 semesters of receiving a B.S. in Behavioral Science, I took a required physical science course, intro to Geology from Danny Horns.  This completely changed my academic trajectory.  I quickly changed my major.   As an undergraduate at Utah Valley,  I had the opportunity to participate in research in Northern Mexico, Central Mexico, and Nepal.  

Following graduation from Utah Valley, I worked for a year (2010-2011) at the USGS Utah Water Science Center as a Hydrologic Technician.   In addition to working with alot of great people, I traipsed all over Utah measuring discharge in various streams and rivers to build rating curves so that real time stream discharge data was accurate and up to date.  Wind, Rain, or Sunshine. 

Left: Measuring stream discharge below Moon Lake Dam, Uinta Mountains, spring 2011. Right: Measuring groundwater influx, south shore of the Great Salt Lake, summer 2010.

In 2011, I moved to Reno and began my M.S. with Dr. Jim Faulds.  The focus of my thesis was detailed geologic mapping to provide insight into the structural controls of a blind geothermal system on the Pyramid Lake Piaute Tribe Reservation in western Nevada.  I finished my M.S. in the summer of 2013.  My PhD work (2013-2019) was advised by Sean Long.  

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