I was born in 1958 at the start of the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union.  The entire focus of our country was on the math and science for the development of technologies that would help the US win that war.  As you can see from my professional life I have a Ph.D in Tropical Soil Science.  The road to that degree start when I was in third Grade at the age of 8 years old.  I remember distinctly being told that I was so good in Math and Science that i no longer need to attend Art classes.  For the next 15 years the focus of my education was focused on mathematics and memoriztion.  I can learn the rules to any mathematical process and apply them quickly.  Give me 1000 facts to memorize and test me and I will excell.  In that setting I was an excellent student that got difficult work done easily.  Unfortuntaley, I felt unchallenged and uncreative at times.

When I graduated from college and set off for my first real job as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines in 1981 I asked for one gift from my parents --- A Camera.  It was a great technical tool that helped be express my creativity in an artistic manner.  I took to it immediately and with passion.

Over the next 27 years my passion for artistic expression has been as strong as my passions in my Professional and Personal Lives.