A little about me: I have been a rockhound all my life. I still remember my first dig at age 6 in Southern Oregon. With a screwdriver, I dug out a football size banded agate. I am a very active member of the Oregon Agate and Mineral Society - Vice president 2 years, president 1 year. I write articles; give lectures to local grade schools, historical societies and rock & mineral clubs; do lapidary; lead field trips; schedule earth science lectures; and exhibit.

My collecting interests: I LOVE minerals, particularly well defined crystal structures. I specialize in metallic minerals, both primary and secondary minerals. My favorite areas of mineral focus are lead and barite, followed by the copper minerals. I also collect meteorites, ammonites, petrified pine cones, petrified wood by wood type and thundereggs by location. At least a third of my collection I have dug myself. About another 40% I have acquired through trades (I am a very active trader both for myself and the club I belong to) and the rest of my collection has been put together through purchases.

I am passionate about: Keeping public lands open for recreational use, including to rockhounds, while also being an advocate for responsible stewardship of those public lands. Building an active juniors program within my rockhound club is important to me. Without kids developing an interest in earth sciences and rockhounding, we miss the opportunity to build thriving rockhounding communities. I am also particularly motivated by keeping the focus on rockhounding as an affordable hobby for all, rather than a big ticket business that drives lower-income collectors out of the hobby. I believe strongly that this can be accomplished by getting people with an interest in rocks involved with clubs at the local, regional and national level and by creating active trading partnerships between clubs to share material from region to region.

Major accomplishments: Authored and co-sponsored OR SCR 14, making Oregonite and Josephinite the official twin minerals of the state of Oregon; 2011 OAMS President's Award recipient for best exhibit - 61st Annual Rock & Mineral Show at the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry; Co-authored bronze medal award winning entry for American Federation of Mineralogical Society's ALL-American Yearbook 2013.