I was raised near the coast of Louisiana where I discovered my love for marine and aquatic critters. My family moved to Houston when I was a kid and we would go fishing in the lakes and along the coast of SE Texas. When I would go to the beach I was more interested in seeing what I could catch with a seine than other beach activities. After HS, I studied Marine Fisheries and Marine Biology at Texas A&M University Galveston (BS ) and Environmental Biology at the University of Houston - Clear Lake (MS). Professionally I have worked for natural resource agencies for the past 20 years studying how water quality affects fish and macrobenthic invertebrate communities in Texas.