I was born in Eugene, Oregon in 1972. When I was just over two my family moved to Cali, Colombia (my father is Colombian). We lived there for 11 years, until 1985. In Colombia I attended Colegio Bolivar, a fantastic school with many international students. We realized that it would be hard for my parents to pay for a US college if they remained in Colombia, and the violence was increasing. We chose New Bern, North Carolina for a number of reasons, including an available teaching job for my mother. I found it to be rather small and a bit backwards as compared to Cali, a more global city.
In 1990 I graduated from New Bern High School and headed off to Duke University, a highly ranked US university located in North Carolina. I began as an Environmental Engineer but quickly loathed the math and switched to Environmental Science and Policy, which I loved. I graduated in 1994. I loved my Duke experience, and not just for back-to-back basketball championships in 1991 and 1992. The social environment, the academic curriculum, the people, the setting - all have made me true blue.
I continued at Duke's School of the Environment, graduating in 1996 with a master in Corporate Environmental Management (Resource and Environmental Economics program). I am tremendously grateful for what I learned there, including opportunities to work with Environmental Defense on the Paper Task Force, a role in helping North Carolina adjust its massive agricultural animal policies (you would not believe the waste produced by cows, chickens, and hogs... nor how it flows right into rivers), and exposure to some brilliant people and teachers. While there, I met my beautiful and wonderful wife.
Luckily for me, I played a lot of video games as a child and in college. When I graduated with my masters I had not only lots of environmental knowledge but a heavy heaping of computer skill. I was hired by a Philadelphia area company (Emax, now called SciQuest) to help them work on various environmental management computer tools. One of them was SAP's EH&S module.
I rapidly found myself in a narrow but worthwhile niche, being one of few people in the world that understands the environmental requirements corporations have, as well as the way they can use SAP to increase their compliance. I have been working with SAP EH&S since 1996.
After Emax (a part of which briefly became TechniData - a major EH&S consulting player) I worked for Ariel Research Corporation, where I headed and grew the consulting practice for a tool for SAP EH&S. The company had amazingly talented employees and I was able to travel the world. I worked there until they were bought and the culture changed, but the company was sold to a more fitting owner and I now work with them again as a consultant.
I am lucky to now work from home for several clients, working on their EH&S systems and providing solutions for the EH&S module. I take comfort in helping large polluting corporations (and the vast majority are very much out of compliance) do a better job of complying with our globe's critical environmental regulations. By working from home I actually see my family!
I have two wonderful kids, born in 2004 and 2006. Spending time with them and my wife is really my number one hobby. Working from home allows me to spend quality time with them every day of the week. I was also lucky enough to be at home every day during my wife's pregnancies, which was a big change from when I used to travel 75%.
My wife and I used to have a lot of things we did together. Things changed when we started preparing for our first child (home births both) and hasn't recovered since. Our lives seem to now involve going to parks, playgrounds, forests, museums, and concerts by people with names like "Mr. Knick Knack". Strangely, we both love this. We also find it hard to recall what we used to do with our lives...
I have always loved music. These days, I listen to Electronica/Techno/Downtempo and bands such as Propellerheads, Thievery Corporation, and Gotan Project. I still hold an appreciation for rock, alternative, and heavy metal, with some blues and jazz periodically. I learned a lot about audio both as a drummer and former audio-visual services employee at Duke (my student job), so I tend to take music, musicians, and audio-visual equipment very seriously. You can see my recent playlists on my Userbox Last.fM link.
I have played role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) since 1983. I prefer the Dark Sun and Greyhawk settings. I am probably one of the biggest Dark Sun fans out there. My claims to fame included moderating the Dark Sun listserv for several years and publishing the Netbook of Athasian Ecology, a treatise on the desert ecology and its flora and fauna. In 2010 I became an administrator for the Ashes of Athas organized play campaign, a story-driven living campaign set in the Dark Sun world.
I first started with the Moldvay purple boxed set. During the early years I played most classic first edition modules. I played second edition in college in the early 90s, focusing on Dark Sun and some Spelljammer (as well as a bit of Shadowrun). After college I played with PAGE, a Philly area gaming group. Every week we played a different gaming system, which provided me with nice exposure to all the industry could offer at that time.
In the early 00s I focused again on D&D, this time playing in living campaigns. I was an active player and volunteer in the 3rd edition Living Greyhawk campaign. My region was Geoff. My main character, the Dwarven ranger Krelor Deepforge, retired in 2005 as the ruler of a large barony, a position that required a fair bit of work to earn. The character became part of the storyline. Other claims to fame include helping the development of the Olwythi (Geoff), Longbowmen of Geoff, and other meta-organizations, as well as helping to organize the Tidecon 2005 interactive and writing the Reverse Dungeon mini-mission. I am most proud of the excellent role-playing achieved with my gaming group, Gryphon's Wrath.
In addition to my work for Ashes of Athas I am currently involved in the RPGA'sForgotten Realms campaign, helping to author adventures. I continue to play other systems, including Eclipse Phase, Shadowrun, Spycraft, Legend of the Five Rings, and Savage Worlds.
I periodically play a PC video game, usually in the RP or category.
I perpetually try to catch up on painting miniatures, a hobby at which I do not excel but really do enjoy.
Besides my family, I have a great passion for the environment. From being aware of the footprint I live on this planet to actively working to reduce my consumption and increase others' awareness, I work steadily to make this a better planet. My current job is rewarding, but I yearn for an opportunity to make changes on a more massive scale, particularly with energy issues.
My environmental awareness is part of my interest in politics. I am a political news junkie and enjoy an intense political argument between friends. The little TV I watch over the years (West Wing to Jon Stewart) reflects my interests. I also like to comb the AP wires for international and scientific news. I am a huge fan of LiveScience.com
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and everywhere else....