I'm a Senior Instructor and Assistant Research Professor in PSU's Department of Geology

My primary research interests include: deformation and fracture in minerals and metals, and meteorite thermomechanical histories. My primary tools are the Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), SEM-Electron Backscatter Diffraction (SEM-EBSD), and Xray Diffractometer (XRD)

My teaching focuses on Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs). All of my courses incorporate at least one of the following elements, and about half of my classes include all three:

• students perform an original research, analysis, or design project in response to an open-ended problem

• student products are useful to some "client" outside of our classroom

• students have wide latitude over their experiment, design, and data analysis

My Background includes, in no particular order,

• Senior Instructor and Research Assistant Professor - Portland State University, 2001 - now

• M.S. and Ph.D. in Materials Science - Washington State University, 1995 and 1999. 

  • • Research topic: transmission electron microscopy and numerical modeling of  liquid metal embrittlement.

    • Dissertation:  "The effect of grain boundary parameters on the penetration of aluminum grain boundaries by liquid metal gallium." 

• Undergraduate Research Assistant, Post-baccalaureate Research Assistant,  Graduate Research Assistant, and Post-doctoral Research Associate - Los Alamos National Laboratory, intermittently from 1987-1999

• B.S. Metallurgical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, 1989

• Member, Board of Directors and Chair, Education Committee - Wolftree Inc. (a science education non-profit), 2008-2014

• Volunteer Ski Patroller - Mount Hood Ski Patrol,  2006-now

I'm also the current Community College outreach coordinator for the Geology Department. Check out a slide deck about PSU Geology and Geology careers