About Me

MY BIO

When I look back on my education, science had always fascinated me because I felt it helped explain and describe the world in which we live. It was something I always enjoyed learning. So when I went to university, the sciences was something I wanted to study.

I appreciated it was a field of study where you try to prove yourself wrong, in order to advance understanding on how things actually work. How cool is that! Ultimately I was sucked into the study of small stuff (cells, bacteria & viruses), after a professor in our first class told us all you have the same amount of bacteria on and in you than your own cells that make you up! Crazy!

I had been accepted in a U of C program called Cellular, Molecular and Microbial  Biology, the summer before I was injured fighting wildfires in BC. I wanted to learn more about cell stuff. I think cells are super cool. 

My injury occurred during my fifth summer, where I was a part of a 3-person initial attack crew (a.k.a. Helitack) that was designed to put our the small fires before they went big. It was a burnt tree that collapsed on top of me while working on a relatively medium sized fire. I loved the job and the people I worked with. It was an awesome experience and I highly recommend it for anyone to do. It's the perfect job to have while going to post secondary. 

Check out more about wildland fire fighting here!

At their headquarters, located here in Victoria, I continued to work over the summer months for the Forest Service. During the off seasons, I continued my science education after transferring to UVic. 

It was at UVic where I received a degree in biochemistry and then became a teacher after completing the Faculty of Education year-long post degree professional program internship. I feel very fortunate to be able to teach. I really enjoy the work I do. 

I chose to become a teacher because I hope to make my small positive mark on the world we share together by teaching things I am most passionate about. The sciences, math and photography have always been big interests of mine. Not to mention, I enjoy seeing students succeed and grow as individuals! See me for help anytime! 

To be honest, I thought I would simply be teaching chemistry for my entire career. Due to my photography background and the uncertain world when one first starts to teach, unexpectedly, my first real contract was to teach photography, junior science and Biology 12 (now known as Anatomy and Physiology 12), and then ultimately senior physics and mathematics. 

Lifelong learning, friends and family, good food, being good stewards for the environment, first nation rights, honest discussions, ensuring governments make evidence based decisions, and equality for everyone, are things I very much value as well. After all, we're all in this together, so let's make this world a better place as One Tribe ya'll. 

I also value hard work, teamwork, positive attitudes, honesty, personal responsibility, to laugh at yourself and to always have hope. Never give up. Challenge accepted. Together, let's make our positive mark on this world.

Although I love what I do, work/life balance is important to me so my family is naturally a priority. I'm married and have two step kids and two little ones of my own with my wife. I like to handcycle, play wheelchair tennis, work on my photography (check out some of my images on the right!), procrastinate on anything to do with science and astronaut stuff (a.k.a. which is for sure my secret dream job), and I've been woodworking too. It's fun learning how to design and build stuff. I'm also trying to get better at mediation.