Biography
I am a native Johnson City, NY (and yes I am truly a Yankee – fan and otherwise) and as far back as I can remember I wanted to be a veterinarian. As an undergraduate I attended Cornell University receiving a BS in Animal Science and then attended Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. After graduation I did a one-year internship in equine performance horse medicine and then opened my own equine practice which I ran for the next 13 years.
After exhausting myself in a 24-7 solo practice I decided to leave practice for a slower paced life, and moved to the western mountains of Maine where I bought a flyfishing business. After a couple years I felt I needed something else to go with the flyfishing business, and I was hired to be the (and I was “the” only) High School science teacher in a small K – 12 school.
There I taught six different subjects and truly learned the meaning of integrated and interdisciplinary learning. After 16 years of flyfishing and 14 years teaching there, we moved to Ferrum and my current position. I bring with me a passion for practical-based learning, honed over nearly three decades of life experiences. I still love horses and flyfishing, but it is my desire to share what I am able, about that which I know, with my students that energizes my soul!
Assistant Professor of Biology