I was born in New Orleans, and I grew up in Louisiana and Kentucky. I studied Philosophy at Berea College (when I wasn't playing rugby or ultimate frisbee) and graduated in 2006.

For the next several years I worked in hospice care, taught ecology and astronomy in Cape Cod, was a librarian in Pima, Arizona, and taught pre-school. In 2011, I was accepted by the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education, where I earned my Master's Degree in the Art of Teaching (Social Sciences).

My wife and I spent 10 wonderful years in Roseburg, Oregon, where I taught U.S. Government and did whatever I could (tutor, referee, chess coach, director, etc.) for the Boys & Girls Club of the Umpqua Valley.

I am now a Political Science PhD student at the University of South Carolina, studying Public Law. Specifically, I am focusing on U.S. Supreme Court indigenous rights jurisprudence.

If I were not studying Political Science, I would likely be studying mythology, religion, English literature, and/or cinema. Our two children, Louis (6) and Judith (4), keep us busy.