I began my college career by taking courses at my local community college in New London County, Connecticut while working as a manual laborer at General Dynamics helping to build nuclear submarines.  Those early college experiences paved the way for me to go a State teachers college, where I proved myself and earned a university citation in my major (Environmental Earth Science) upon graduation.  I had found a fascination with the earth sciences.  I also discovered a desire to teach and concurrently earned NCAT teaching certification.  I took employment as a high school science teacher for two and a half years - before going to graduate school to pursue my interest in earth science.

During graduate school I made a living by teaching graduate and undergraduate courses (often laboratories and field courses) and doing scientific research.  I took many advanced courses that were enormously stimulating and gave me the educational background on which to draw for my Master's thesis (Earth & Environmental Sciences) and Doctoral dissertation (Geosciences).

I continued with college teaching upon earning my Doctorate degree.  I have taught in the Connecticut State University system, Wesleyan University, Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, Penn State, and Western International University Online.  I also teach on-line for Excelsior College and Montana State University.

During my college and teaching careers, I also pursued geological and environmental consulting.  Both university teaching and consulting offer considerable freedom, which I like.  I have consulted for government, industry, and private citizens.  One of my longest 'running' contracts was for the State Geological and Natural History of Connecticut where I worked as a natural resources information person for the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.  Much of my other consulting has been and is commonly for mining companies.

Along the way I married.  My wife Linda and I live in central Pennsylvania where we are raising our 10-year old boy, Brett.  Linda is a staff administrative assistant at Penn State.  My 25-year old step-son, Ryan, is still part of our lives.  He is currently enrolled at Penn State where he hopes to begin a degree plan.

During my extra time, I coach my boy's Little League team and do flower and vegetable gardening on our property.  My hobbies include driving and maintaining a classic '69 Triumph Spitfire (a 2-seater English sportscar) that I picked up when I was in college.  I couldn't bear to get rid of it.  It's a 'blast' to drive with the top down.