I currently serve as the Director of the Huston Brumbaugh Nature Center and Professor of Biology and John D. Brumbaugh Chair in Environmental and Ecological Sciences. My research and teaching focuses on forest ecosystems and microbiology with a specialization on fungal pathogens in the context of a changing earth. I previously worked as a professor at the University of Florida. While at UF I taught numerous courses, including “Forest Ecosystem Health”, “Dendrology of Forest Plants” and the widely popular “Take a Hike” course.
I also served as the State Forest Health Extension Specialist, developing extension programs to train agents, provide diagnostic services and recommendations for industry and serve educational and training needs for professional arborists and the horticulture industry. At Mount Union, I teach ENV 301, “Field Studies I, Ecology” and ENV-190N Lab, “Introduction to Environmental Science Lab”.
I currently live in Alliance with my wife, two kids and menagerie of pets. One interesting fact about me is if you are a fan of the Netflix series “Stranger Things”, you can see me (briefly) in Season 4, in episode 5. Don’t blink though!