Personal Information:

I was 10 years old when the Oil Embargo of 1973 created a good scare in the U.S. due to the subsequent oil/gasoline shortages. I remember sitting in gas station lines, even on the days you had the proper last digit on your Massachusetts license plate for even/odd days matching the calander date, so you could purchase gas. There were people yelling and fighting with each other at the gas stations, even though this crisis lasted only a few weeks. We are now facing a future of permanent shortages in fossil fuel oil and natural gas supplies, and doing everything we can to avoid future chaos is what every American should be actively involved in.

My first career was in the high-tech arena. I worked as an engineer for 10 years at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. A very fun place to work, but I always felt I was not doing what I was meant to do. I then transitioned to California with a four year stint at Adobe Systems, Inc. in San Jose, CA as a software engineer. After 4 years of sitting in a 13th floor office with artificial air & light to go along with radiation from my computer screen for 9 hours a day, I decided it was time to make the jump into another line of work. One that got me outdoors and teaching about how we have lost our connection to the beautiful planet we live on.

I read The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight in the late 1990's, and then The Party's Over in 2004. I was aware of the coming energy crisis predicted in the first decade of the new 21st century, but my greater concerns have always revolved around human's lack of respect for the planet they inhabit. I began reorienting my life for a future in environmental education back in 1999 when I decided to go back to school and get a MS in Environmental Education. My previous 12 years of public education and 4 year technical degree gave me no sound ecological education whatsoever, a problem throughout our education system in the U.S.

I did two apprenticeships while getting my Master's degree; one with Real Goods' Solar Living Institute in Hopland, CA and the other with UC Santa Cruz's Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems program which teaches sustainable farming and gardening during a full-time 6 month season. After completing my Master's which focused on Sustainable Living Education, I was given an opportunity to teach at the college level a hands-on course in Sustainable Living. This teaching opportunity put me on the faculty of Penn State University in State College, PA and allowed me to use their 8 acre Center for Sustainability as the classroom for the course. You can read more about their activities and the PSU Center for Sustainability at: www.engr.psu.edu/cfs/.

I am currently part-time employed at Santa Clara County's Office of Education Walden West Outdoor School while I am active in many volunteer projects. I am working with a Southbay grassroots group called SaveBAREC (www.savebarec.org) which is trying to educate and awaken the residents of Silicon Valley why we should preserve 17 acres of State owned agricultural land in the City of Santa Clara. I am the originator and organizer of the Post Carbon Santa Clara Valley group which meets in Santa Clara once a month. You can read more on that at: www.sfbayoil.org/pcscv/. I am also involved with a new group called the Foundation of Sustainable Living, based in Santa Cruz, where I contribute to their education committee. You can read more on them at: www.foundationofsustainableliving.org.

I practice voluntary simplicity through being a "bottom feeder" in terms of buying used goods, minimizing my driving needs by limited vacations and commute days, and purchasing locally grown, organic foods as much as my income allows. My partner and I have two biodiesel vehicles, reduced our house's energy use to an average of 6.5 kwh/day (average for U.S. home is 25kwh/day), and grow a good deal of organic food in our two 100 sqft biointensive garden beds sitting in some of the best soil in Santa Clara Valley. We catch 400+ gallons of rainwater each winter to use around the yard. And we have begun trading garden produce with our neighbors to get ready for the future when this will be a normal practice once our energy intensive food system collapses due to the effects of Peak Oil and Global Warming. My motto: "Less is More."