Birth

February 23, 1989

I was born in Westford, Ma on a cold winter night with a mean temperature of 34.8°F. The skies were clear…or so the database says. I was born to a loving mother and father, with one over protective sister. I’ll be honest, growing up my father was the star of the show. As a construction worker, he was always fixing, building, destroying, rebuilding things around our house. This is where I picked up my love for problem solving. He also drew me a life-sized Power Ranger one time and that was really cool.

Childhood

1989-2007

I was all over the place growing up. There was a lot of wrestling with the nerd I wanted to be and the athlete I thought I should be. Luckly, I found some amazing friends in highschool through the theater program, Math Honors Society, and Volleyball. I spent much of my time divided between the sciences and the arts and like many teenagers clueless to the question: “What are you going to do for the rest of your life?” Honestly, what a crazy impossible question to put on literal kids.

Undergraduate

2007-2012

In 2007, I was accepted to Northeastern University’s Architecture program. I think as a young impressionable youth I may not have understood the difference between Architecture and Engineering. I loved math and I loved designing. Unfortunately, within a few years I realized how little math Architecture actually contained. I left the program to pursue a degree in Environmental Science. It was here I was first, unknowingly, exposed to Data Science. I learned how to use MatLab, ArcGIS , and other data analytics programs.

Raytheon Co-op

January - July 2010

My first internship was for Raytheon as part of an Environmental Engineering team. Again, I was brushed by the Data Science spirit.

I was given a small task to calculate the water usage of our facility’s bathrooms. I ran with this task, collecting information on every toilet and sink product, scraping data to understand the average usage for employees in certain age brackets and sexes, then compared this to our own employee registry. After calculating the potential total usage, I saw an opportunity. I presented this data to my supervisor, who immediately saw the impact as well.

My project scope increased. I was to continue this task for the entire Northeast region. At the end, I received a formal award from my boss and was asked to present my project to some higher-ups.

After my presentation, I felt completely outclassed. The two other recipients were working on missiles and high-tech radars. However, at the end they all spoke up and said something I’ll mostly never forget (since I'm paraphrasing here) “If you can be given a small project with toilets and find millions of dollars in real savings, your work ethic and enthusiasm knows no bounds.”

Iceland

July 2010

I continued on with my degree. I was lucky enough to spend a month in Iceland as part of a Study Abroad program. Even more fortunate, it happened right after the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull. This is a future geologist’s dream come true. This trip solidified my resolve to pursue a career in science. I graduated with a degree in Environmental Science concentrated in Geology.

USGS Co-op

June 2011 - September 2012

My final internship was at the USGS, although it was only supposed to last six months, it was extended for an additional nine. It was a fantastic experience just prior to graduate school. I worked at an army base on Cape Cod collecting and analyzing groundwater samples. During this time, I was exposed to a number of water quality testing equipment, methods for analysis, and ticks…so many ticks.

Graduate Studies

2012 - 2014

I was accepted to a Master’s program at Kansas State University where I worked on Jarbidge Rhyolites and their relation to the Yellowstone hotspot. I thought I had it…volcanoes. I would study volcanoes for the rest of my life. However, the universe has a funny way of throwing a wrench in your plans. It was here that I met the love of my life and wife, Katelyn Salmans. No way in HELL was I going to risk my life every day in the caldera of an active volcano now that I had Katy. Looking back, I can’t believe I thought I was going to do that.

Golder

2014 - 2016

Instead I went to work for Golder, an Environmental Consulting Firm. It was here I started to exercise my skills as a Data Analyst. I learned how to collect, clean, and derive insights from very large groundwater datasets. Most of the work was in excel and that was very time consuming, however I learned how to bend excel to my will.

Trifecta Ecosystems

2016 - 2018

After a few years at Golder, I started consulting work with some friends as a part-time gig. I had never heard of it before, but as soon as I understood, I was hooked. Aquaponics: a process that marries aquaculture and hydroponics. The fish feed the plants and the plants clean the water for the fish. It seemed so simple, so perfect. Rarely are things in the real world ever this simple however.

I ended up leaving Golder to found Trifecta Ecosystems with these friends. For two years we toiled away researching, designing, and selling systems and services to the Education and Intellectual and Developmentally Disabled sectors. As the COO, I wore many different hats. It was here I learned A/B testing, financial analysis, SEO, google analytics, and many other tools to monitor the success of a business.

After two years of grinding, we secured funding from Connecticut Regional Water Authority in the form of $500,000. Although we just had our first breakthrough, I felt like I finally took my first breath and realized I wanted to focus on research. To focus on data. I loved the entrepreneurial life, but I longed to focus on research and data analysis.

Stowers Institute for Medical Research

2018 - 2022

Stowers has been an amazing place for me over these last four years. I’ve worked with so many skilled individuals, have been able to explore amazing projects and data, been able to hone my own skills in data analysis, as well as pick up new skills along the way! I’ve published my work with Astyanax mexicanus in two books and presented at several conferences. I’ve been able to use my knowledge to reduce the team’s workload, the cost of the facility, and improve the welfare of our animals. Most importantly, I have been able to train and mentor so many other members of our team and watch them grow and succeed in their careers.

Exploring both the operations and biological side of data has made it abundantly clear for me, my passion is in data. It can be sperm motility, water quality, equipment states, images, animal survival, growth metrics, whatever. As long as I can wrangle, analyze, and model it…I am happy.