About Me

I am originally from Denver, Colorado and graduated from Smoky Hill High School in 2008. Growing up, I played ice hockey as well as ran track and cross-country. I am a huge Denver sports fan and make peoples eyes hurt on Sundays while wearing my bright orange #18 Peyton Manning jersey. Being in Colorado, I also skied a lot during winters and still find time to make a trip back or two every year to hit the slopes at Vail, Keystone or another one of my favorite ski resorts.

I accepted a scholarship from Creighton University to continue running cross-country at the collegiate level in Omaha, Nebraska. I ran for two-and-a-half years as a member of the varsity cross-country team before I had to quit due to injury. While at Creighton, I was also a brother of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. Even though I can no longer run competitively or at the same volume as I used to, it is still one of my favorite activities and occasionally you can find me trying to relive my track glory days in local 5 K’s. I am also a huge fan of Creighton basketball, which sometimes can add to my stress level come March.

In 2012, I decided to attend graduate school at Penn State and work in the lab of Dr. Steve Schaeffer. It was an interesting transition to go from a small, 4000 student Jesuit school to one of the largest universities in the country. If it is a Penn State home football game, you can almost guarantee to see me in attendance.

If I am not in the lab, I am most likely at home listening, playing, writing or recording music. I started playing piano when I as 8 and learned guitar while in middle school. In high school, I even built my own electric guitar with the help of my grandfather. While in Omaha, I formed an alternative hip-hop band called Capitol Ave. for which I write all the background music and instrumentals. In my free time, I still find time to write songs for my group and have collaborated with other artists throughout the country. From Mozart to Kanye, from Nirvana to The Four Tops I enjoy any and all styles of music and you can find a wide range of genres in my growing collection of vinyl.

Outside of music, my other hobbies include fishing, hunting, bike riding and reading.