CURRENT MISSION

Get through school without giving up or going broke

ABOUT ME

I'm a college student. I'm a biologist, mathematician, houseplant enthusiast, and baker. The first two descriptions are what I study at school, and the last two are things I enjoy while I am at home. I've lived in Portland for four years now, but before that I lived in a mid-sized college town in Eastern Washington state. I enjoy traveling the most when I have an activity to do that gets me away from the typical tourist track. For example, last summer I traveled to Mexico to work on a forest ecology research project. I loved it, because my field sites were way the hell out in these little countryside towns that no traveler would ever think to visit unless they had to, but since I had to be there, I got to see the way things really work. I also really appreciated being able to interact with some of my Mexican counterparts -- other scientists and students -- who share my same intellectual passions but whose lives are nonetheless very different from my own. That was a real treat. Mostly, though, I'm a homebody. I love where I live and I'm proud to consider myself a Portlander.

Perché sono iscritto su Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I'm very new to this whole thing.

Interessi

Cribbage, microbiology, beer (cheap and high-quality), architecture & design, communication, genetics, academia, pop music, kitchen gadgets, cats, mountains.

• cats
• architecture
• design
• beer
• traveling
• music
• track and field
• biology
• ecology
• teaching
• genealogy
• mountains

Musica, film e libri

I really enjoy reading Us Weekly magazine. More seriously, some books that I've read fairly recently and that I liked are 2666 (which I mention partially to make myself seem more impressive -- it is freakin' 912 pages long -- but also because it is mysterious and menacing and poetic, and it gave me a feeling like no other to read it), The World Without Us (a nonfiction book about the apocalypse and yes, how the world will manage to carry on without us), and pretty much any book written by Oliver Sacks. For music, some perennial favorites are Prince, Springsteen, Kanye, Yo La Tengo, and Paul Simon. I'm a devoted fan of This American Live and Radio Lab on NPR. Movies I love are Footloose, 28 Days Later, and Platoon. I'm also a shameless TV addict. Some of my favorite shows are The Bachelor (please do not judge too harshly), Jeopardy!, This Old House, and Pawn Stars.

Una cosa incredibile che ho fatto

On a trip to New Zealand, I voyaged deep into the Southern Ocean to visit the remote New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands on a converted Russian icebreaker named Professor Kromov. On this trip, I got to see the world's loneliest tree, get up close and personal with breeding sea lions, get chased by said sea lions, make friends with a penguin, brave swells on the open ocean high enough to throw you out of your berth, and have free reign to explore UNESCO World Heritage sites that only a handful of travelers have ever experienced.

Paesi che ho visitato

Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States

Paesi in cui ho vissuto

Netherlands, United States