About Me

Growing up with a father and older brother that were always doing outdoor sports, I was pushed to keep up. From family mountain biking trips to sailing around Lake Michigan, a deep respect and alignment with nature was instilled in me from a young age. After high school I pursued a career in professional sailing, and lived in New York for 2 years racing offshore and inshore events on 40ft mono-hulls and foiling catamarans. As time went on I knew I needed to get a degree and an opportunity arose in Washington to build mountain bike trails and live in the woods with my brother. I jumped at this opportunity and outfitted my truck with a crude bed and drawers for the full time, truck life experience. I worked closely with my supervisor Andrew Pelkofer who helped guide me to a degree in Geography. I knew I wanted to be apart of the planning of trails for all types of users but I didn't know how I could gain experience that would be valuable in that field.

After my first part-time semester at UW-Parkside I was drawn toward GIS and immediately started taking as many courses as I could and realized how applicable this tool could be used in the planning of recreation. As the semesters rolled on I broadened my scope from applied environmental geography to also include a concentration in planning. I am currently working on an assessment of sustainability on trails located in Chico, Ca, and a site suitability analysis and development plan for a proposed trails plan in the Mt Shasta Wilderness area. I am using LiDar and soil data to determine optimal locations for these trails and asses current conditions remotely. While these skills are all linear and science based, I very much enjoy the process of putting pen to paper and drawing. Landscape Architecture, conceptual drawings, photography, graphic design are small hobbies of mine and I plan to combine these skills in my future endeavors. I am a Junior now and very eager to start working on planning projects, but as my career progresses I plan on earning my masters in GIS and hopefully a Ph.D in Geospatial and Environmental Analysis.