I have been mineral collecting since my high school days living outside Boston, MA (Chelsea) now for over 50 years. Visiting the Harvard mineral collection (with a flashlight in hand in those days) was the driving force (along with the road cuts on highway Route 1) that made me decide to become an exploration geologist. I attended the University of Arizona in the early-mid 1970's and graduated with a B.S. degree in Geological Engineering. I live in the San Francisco Bay area, Marin County now for over 40 years. I am now semi-retired after a long career as an engineering geologist and consultant in the waste management industry.

During my early university years, I collected at many of the iconic Arizona mineral locations and found enough specimens to help pay my way through college. I started micromounting in 1974 being influenced by Neil Yedlin and his articles in the Mineralogical Record and found a love for looking for rare and or unknown species and photographing them.

I have added at least a dozen new mineral phases to locations in the Arizona over the years. I specialize in the mineralogy of Arizona and specifically the Mammoth St. Anthony mines, Tiger and Tombstone and have nearly a complete collection of all known species from both locations. My data and photographs have been published in the Mineralogical Record as well as the books Collecting Arizona and the 4th edition of the Mineralogy of Arizona.

In March 2022, I was honored by the naming of a new mineral (IMA 2021-107) now known as murphyite, the Te6+ analogue of raspite from the Grand Central Mine, Tombstone, Arizona.

I encourage any collectors with a passion for rare Arizona minerals to contact me.