Originally from Staten Island, NY, my family moved to the Poconos region of Pennsylvania when I was six years old. I graduated from Pocono Mountain High School in 1998 and went on to attend Penn State University where I earned a B.S. in education in 2002. In the 2001-02 school year, I completed a student-teaching internship at the State College Area High School in the earth sciences and environmental sciences. Since 2002, I have been an instructor of the freshman earth systems science courses at State High.