I was born in Maine in 1963 and grew up in the small rural town of Ashland in the northern part of the state.  When I was 12, I moved to Fort Fairfield, Maine (near the Canadian border), where I graduated from public high school in 1981.

Studied Physics Engineering at the University of Maine (Orono) and received my degree in 1986.  I then moved to Boston where I lived for 14 years.  Worked in several technical positions and eventually became the Test Design Director for a software development project for the Air Force (developing an automated weather forecasting system).

About a year before I moved to California in 1999, I had been promoted to the Software Development Task Manager position for the same Air Force project.  Even though my career was going great, I was ready for a change.  Ever since I was young I wanted to work for NASA (being an avid amateur astronomer).  I also had a desire to move out west.

Therefore, I applied for and accepted an engineering position in Los Angeles, CA responsible for the design of science validation tests for a space telescope ground data system.  The sensitive infrared cameras on this telescope allow us to peer through the dusty universe and have already made startling discoveries -- including that the Milky Way is not a true spiral galaxy, but a barred spiral! 

Until recently, I was also working as a systems engineer part-time on SIM Planet Quest.  SIM stands for Space Interferometry Mission, an innovative and powerful new scientific method for astronomical research.