Ed and his mushroom!
While working as a carpet cleaner Ed was unsatisfied with explaining to customers that stains cannot be removed and; as an electronics salesperson was unenthusiastic about steering shoppers’ impulse purchases to products with higher profit margins. Ed decided to go to college. Thanks to a college fund awarded by the U.S. Army, Ed quickly realized he could earn more income while going to school than he could by working his 2 jobs. He received an A.S. in General Studies and A.A. in Liberal Arts from Northern Virginia Community College in 1999.
Ed didn’t have a clear plan or direction to continue his academic pursuits, so he flipped through various course catalogs. He was most interested in sciences. A friend invited him to go mountain biking in Blacksburg, Virginia. He had such a good time that he decided to apply to the Environmental Science program at Virginia Tech. This gave him an opportunity to ride trails and study science. He received a B.S. in Environmental Science with minors in Chemistry and Biology in 2002
After completing undergraduate studies he worked a variety of jobs including; water treatment operations and design & development of amphibious vehicles. In 2008 he decided to return to school; and, since has worked roles in land conservation, operation & support of armored vehicles, and occupational safety.
Innovation and technological solutions to problems are often inspiring. However, low cost – low tech solutions are humbling and sometimes as easy to do as riding a bicycle. In Summer and Fall of 2013, he will be assisting PDXWildlife with its “PDXWildChild” conservation education & outreach program. During this internship, he will be preparing lesson plans and projects for kids ages 3 – 18. He anticipates this effort to be quite challenging. However, the focus will be to develop basic tools and practices which kids will become proficient in short order and can continue using as adults. He will also investigate macrofungi in forests for potential as bioindicators through an observational study. Upon completion of this capstone experience, he will have finished meeting requirements for an M.S. in Environmental Biology from Hood College in Frederick, Maryland.
Ed and I attended the Sustainable Schools – Sustainable Solutions Conference at Trillium Creek Primary School via a very gracious scholarship from the Grey Family Foundation. This allowed us to network, jump start the ideas for PDXWildlife, and slide down a cool twisty slide in their library (I can tell you my primary school wasn’t this cool!).
we were having entirely too much fun on that slide.
Please welcome Ed to the team!
-Meg