Bio

Hi there! I am one of the over seven billion humans navigating life on and around planet Earth. I have spent most of my time in my hometown of New York City, where I was raised by my parents Jeff and Ellen, went to college, and lived and worked. A few years ago I moved to Chicago to pursue a PhD studying the Earth's climate and its plans for the near future. I work primarily with Dorian Abbot and Ray Pierrehumbert. My climate research is greatly informed by my earlier studies in mathematics, and particularly nonlinear dynamics, with Dave Bayer and Peter J. Thomas.

In addition to climate research, I am also interested in the ability of people to act ethically as consumers. For a while, I pursued this interest through the creation of software that helped people automatically track their greenhouse gas emissions. This project was pursued with Michael Geraci and Michael Glass. Our efforts took the form of a web startup (see our trajectory, pivots and all, in GigaOm, NPR, and Crain's NYC). Following this period, I had a brief stint as a freelance web developer, working with David Goldenberg and for the online tutoring company, Ivysage Education.

I like making music. As a composer, I have collaborated with new music ensemble ThingNY, theater company Sinking Ship Productions, singer Lillie Chilen, and dancer/choreographer Buck Wanner. More recent projects have included the folk rock band Sheepdog, a live karaoke band, the Karaoke All-Stars, and a performance of Beck's sheet music album Song Reader.

I have the fortune to witness the wonderful creations of my friends. I like to catch the performances of Bangkok-based pianist Elissa Miller-Kay when I can, theater made by Jon Levin and Josh Luxenberg of Sinking Ship Productions and the writer/director/scholar/activist Darragh Martin, the facemeltingly mindblowing work of Phyllis Ma, the poetry and vocal wizardry of Nadia Chana, the multi-threaded artistry of Gwen Smuda, and the incisive radio pieces of Shining Li. I'm also a fan of the Chicago Free School.