Raised a military dependent, attended three high schools; matriculated at Oregon State, falling in love with misty coniferous forests; started backpacking in the Sierra at 14; perennial student, finally graduating with degrees in Botany, Religious Studies, and Science Education; perennial collector of free graduate credit offered to teachers; taught in Oregon, California, and Illinois; son 19, daughter 24; teacher of science, the organizing principle being that matter interacts within systems of varying scale, which cycle and recycle matter as energy passes through them