Outside Academia

I love nature and spending time outdoors, especially hiking and backpacking. Nature exists on a timescale far beyond our own lives. I like being in the natural world and imagining what a beach, a forest, or a mountain might have looked like millions of years ago. In that much larger sense of time, the present moment begins to feel smaller. After each backpacking trip, I usually come back physically exhausted but deeply fulfilled. The exhaustion fades after a night of rest, but the sense of fulfillment stays with me. It becomes a quiet source of energy that helps me return to research with more patience, focus and perspective.