I grew up in the foothills of the Adirondacks, the last house on the long road that bordered the forest that seemed unending to me. If I wasn't playing baseball or working in the family business, I was in the forest. It felt like where I was supposed to be and where I did most of my learning about being outdoors, wildlife, and myself. The men in my family hunted - father, brother, grandfathers, uncles, great-uncles, and cousins. In my family, you contributed to the family, worked hard, and hunted. Of course, spending each summer fishing for trout in Oriskany Creek with my father and for bass on Oneida Lake with my grandfather shaped a conservationist in me.

I bundled my love of nature with an insatiable appetite to learn about mechanical things and for serving my nation and became an Army Engineer Officer.  It seemed like that combination was a logical choice after graduating from Syracuse University with a degree in Construction Management.