I was born and raised in Davenport, Iowa. Growing up, my grandparents and parents would often take me to the many museums in the Quad Cities, as well as take trips to historic sites and institutions throughout the midwest. It was really no surprise that my love for history and museums would grow to the point of me making a career out of it.

I attended Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa for my undergraduate degree. While there I studied both history and chemistry. Upon hearing this, others often were inspired to react with, “Well that’s an odd combination.” And perhaps it is, but I saw an opportunity to commit to the mission of a liberal arts education and explore the world from both the humanities and the sciences. I was most interested in the intersections of these two perspectives, or where one supported the other.

In addition to my academics, I played viola in the college’s chamber orchestra, Kammerstricher, and sang in the men’s choir, Ritterchor. I was also a lab assistant for general chemistry labs, as well as a tutor. Lastly, being at a Lutheran institution, I continued my faith journey within all of my studies and activities and explored how my faith impacted my daily life, and how they did not. I worked hard to fully commit to an interdisciplinary course of study over my four years there. I worked under some incredible faculty and met some of the best friends I could have. The structure and freedom granted to me at Wartburg prepared me for whatever my next step in life would be.

I continued my education at Western Illinois University in their Museum Studies graduate program. While there, I studied essentially anything and everything to do with the operations of a museum. This included courses covering administration, collections care, education, design, fundraising, and volunteer management. Over the course of two intensive years, I was given the tools necessary to be successful in a museum setting in any role.

During my course work, I also had the opportunity to engage academically with an otherwise practical field of history. Two of my largest research projects covered vastly different topics. One looked at how the Arab Spring impacted cultural institutions and museums in Tunisia. This study looked at the practice of historic preservation and public involvement in history sharing prior to the Spring and contrasted this with the current atmosphere of the country and its culture today. This work took several months to translate mostly Arabic and French resources and explore the ways in which the post-Spring government has changed the course of museum making for the better.

My second project, and the one which impacted me the most, was an exploration into a new way of talking about the material things we observe in a museum and how to interpret the stories they hold in ways which reflect on the lives lived of these objects. The philosophic tent this falls under is called New Materialism, which borrows much from the much larger Post-Humanist movement in academics. The latter acts as a responce to the Post-Modern movement of the mid-20th Century as an attempt to re-center from the many concerns the postmodern perspective introduced. In my main project, I responded to a pair of scholars which engaged with this school of thought by examining the macro world through the lens of quantum mechanics. As a trained chemist myself, I took it upon myself to challenge their work as incomplete and fully commit to the many nuances which come from this approach and reported on my findings in doing so. The Post Human approach is now my preferred philosophical lenience throughout all my studies.

In the summer of 2022, I was hired by Iowa Wesleyan University to be the director of the Harlan-Lincoln House and the archivist for the University’s archives. While there, I reopened the house, conducted research to update tour scripts, cataloged 3/4ths of the collection, creating condition reports along the way, oversaw the creation of a month long lecture series, oversaw the restoration of the house’s bannister, and lead tour for the public five days a week. Tragically, Iowa Wesleyan announced they were closing at the end of May, 2023. I, along with all of my co-workers were out of a job. I had accomplished so much in the academic year I was there and had big plans going forward. But, I had to keep moving forward.

After months of looking for a lateral employment move, I have been unsuccessful. While I have by no means given up on my search for a new full time position, I needed to get back to work and do what I love and am best at.

This brings me to today, where I have made the decision to work as an independent museum consultant in southeast Iowa. I do not know where this path will take me or how long I can sustain it, but I’m excited to work along side other history people in the region to preserve and share the stories of the people, places, and things of this area.

Outside of work, I have a number of interests and hobbies. During the lock-downs caused by the pandemic in the Spring of 2020, I took a deep dive into the world of music listening and audiophilia. I have since then acquired a number of headphones, in-ear monitors, amplifiers, DACs, LPs, and much more in the quest for the most enjoyable music listening experience I could cobble together. Some of my favorite artist are Jack Garrett, HONNE, The Beatles, Rush, Muse, Amber Rubarth, and Mumford and Sons (just to name a few). Listening to music has become my default hobby of choice.

I also play quite a lot of video games. Some of my favorite franchises include The Legend of Zelda, Dark Souls, and Assassin’s Creed. I love the way that video games can tell stories in innovative ways, challenge mental and physical aptitudes, and enrich the senses. From high fantasy, to historical fiction, to avant-garde trips, the many ways that video games can engage with the player keeps me coming back for more.

The last hobby I’ll mention, though by no means the last one I have, is my fascination with computer technology. From open-source software projects, to Unix-derivative operating systems, to automations, I love finding ways to get work done in ways that make the most sense to me. I am primarily a Mac user and have planted myself within the Apple ecosystem. However, I have had a lot of fun playing around with Arch Linux and FreeBSD recently. I do most of my work out of a terminal emulator. I love experimenting with various applications, workflows and programming languages.