I was raised on a dairy farm in Tillamook county on the Oregon coast. I attended Nehalem lower and upper elementary schools and then graduated from Neah-Kah-Nie high school in 1977 (class of 62). The schools were small. Nehalem had 250 people and our farm was 7 miles from Nehalem. I ran cross country and track for fun and to avoid milking cows.

I attended Willamette University in Salem, Oregon for my undergraduate degree. I did not (and still do not) type well, so I took lots of science and math classes. I ended up with a triple major in chemistry, mathematics, and physics. I ran some track and cross country where I learned my true calling was in the classroom.

I went to the Chemistry Department at UC Berkeley to study nuclear chemistry under Dr. Glenn Seaborg. I got my Ph.D. in 1988 studying the beta-delayed proton emission of neutron-deficient lanthanide isotopes. I spent 4 more years doing similar research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory with Dr. J. Michael Nitschke.

I followed my wife to Portland, Oregon in the fall of 1992. Running injuries led to cycling. I worked in bike shops for the next decade or so. I started volunteering in Dr. Larry David’s lab at OHSU doing eye lens proteomics. That led to a post doctoral position and an eventual research professor appointment. I have been doing proteomics and bioinformatics since 2003.