MORE ABOUT ME

In graduate school, I joined a herpetology lab ran by Dr. Chris Gienger at Austin Peay State University (APSU) in Clarksville, TN. Under Dr. Gienger's advising, I worked on a Master of Science thesis project studying habitat selection strategies of the Western Cottonmouth in the Cumberland River floodplain. In 2020, I graduated with my M.S. in Biology from APSU with the completion of my thesis research. During graduate school, I developed a passion for water resources, particularly in wetland ecology, and developed my course load to focus on both wildlife biology and wetland science. The graduate committee noticed my interest in wetlands, and I found myself working as the lead graduate research student on a wetland delineation project for the  Fort Campbell U.S. Army Base, where I spent my last year of graduate school developing the delineation protocol and delineated over 1,500 acres of protected waters of the U.S. 

 

After graduate school, my wife and I moved to Chandler, AZ, where I soon accepted a job working for the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD) under the Heritage Data Management System (HDMS). My title was the HDMS Systems Manager and I soon developed my skills as a GIS spatial analysis and software developer managing and updating the AGFD species database as well as learning wildlife law and protections (curious about my coding skills check out my Github).

 

Half a year later in 2021, I was approached with an opportunity to pivot my developing career as a spatial analyst back to a wildlife biologist, and from there I accepted a position as a biologist working under the environmental consulting firm known as Logan Simson. At Logan Simpson, I worked on biological consultations for the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), and National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) for a variety of infrastructure projects, including solar fields, transmission lines, transportation, and mining, throughout the Southwest US (Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Navajo Nation, and Nevada). In addition to my biologist duties, I also worked under the Permitting Branch with Logan Simpson continuing to develop my wetlands consultation experience permitting projects under the Clean Waters Act section 404 regulations. 

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In 2024, my wife and I had our second son born and decided we were going to move back to Minnesota to be closer to family and friends. Shortly after that decision, I accepted a position with WEST-Inc to join their Golden Valley, MN office as an Associate Biologist to work on various renewable energy and transmission line projects throughout the United States particularly focused on assisting with projects ESA and water permitting requirements. 

 

So far, I am still in the early stages of my career but I am focused on continuing my passions to support and work in wildlife and water resource protection so that we can continue to grow and maintain our Nation's natural resources for future generations.

 

Wanna See What Projects I have worked on so far, Click Below