I am from the small mountain town of Telluride Colorado. I grew up skiing and adventuring around the mountains which is probably the reason why I found geology during my undergraduate studies. I completed my bachelors degree at Harvard University in Earth Science, but my love for volcanoes came from my experiences in the field. From Hawaii, to eastern Oregon, to my senior thesis project on the ancient volcanoes in Boston, I fell in love with the science of volcanoes which drew me to the University of Oregon. I love being outside and thus am a fairly stereotypical geologist in that I love to hike, backpack, climb, bike, run, ski etc. (basically anything as long as it is outside). My life as a volcanologist is better summarized on my blog called VolcanYES (pun very intended)!