Matthew Watts - About Me

Halloween!

left to right: Scary Vampire, "Cool Wizard," and Jiji the Cat

I was born in South Florida, but ended up in the Pacific Northwest where I got my B.S. in Philosophy from Portland State University. While there I worked in the philosophy department as both a teaching and research assistant. I also worked on the Oregon High School Ethics Bowl as a coach, as well as part of the organizational committee - I worked on fundraising and community partnerships.

During this time I also worked at Olga's Vineyard in the Columbia River Valley doing mostly vineyard maintenance for Hoods Wind Cellars which specializes in old-world style wines, and is known for their Pinot Noir.

I moved back to South Florida to pursue my PhD at the University of Miami.

When I'm not doing philosophy, I enjoy video games, hiking and camping with my kids, reading and writing sci-fi, and climbing (anything really).

If you are ever at UM you'll probably see me skateboarding around on my giant longboard.

I also have a passion for gardening.

Gardening in South Florida can be incredibly resource intensive and damaging to the soil due to the poor nutrient holding capacity of the generally sandy soil, and the long history destructive ecological practices. While growing food is the focus of my garden, it's important to me that I leave the land in better shape than I found it.

I've been developing a gardening method that incorporates permaculture and syntropic principles into the Florida home garden landscape.

I've included some photos from around the garden.