I grew up in southeastern Michigan, USA and currently live in northern Nevada. My parents were casual mineral collectors and took me on many camping trips to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan throughout my childhood. For whatever reason, their casual interest grew into an obsession for me. Wherever we went on vacation, I had to find a place to collect minerals. As a result, I've collected at many places throughout the US and Canada, but Michigan has always had a special place in my heart. I attended college at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan and graduated with a B.S. in Geological Engineering with a minor in mining. During my time there, I had some great mentors for mineral collecting at the local native copper mines and learned what made a "good" mineral specimen. After graduating, I worked briefly in the mining industry before starting my career in environmental consulting.

I'm almost exclusively a field collector, especially searching for lesser known, lost, or "new" localities. I put a lot of time into researching the Copper Country of Michigan during my time at Michigan Tech, but have now moved my focus to the mines of the Great Basin.