As a retired naval officer, engineer and consultant, I'm spending my "golden years" exploring new passions for nature and interests in applying analytic methods from the worlds of engineering and social sciences to more fully understand and appreciate the inter-connectedness of nature. A certified Virginia master naturalist, I'm passionate about STEM education and donate my time to facilitate training of new master naturalist members in the Fairfax Chapter and promote K-12 STEM initiatives for the MIT Club of Washington DC and MIT Office of Engineering Outreach in the greater DC area. I thoroughly enjoy monitoring and evaluating the ecological health of local streams by identifying and counting benthic invertibrates samples. As a member of the Environmental Law Institute, I monitor regulatory, legal and political actions related to hydraulic fracturing and the risks under-regulated methods of extracting hydrocarbons pose to our underground aquifers. I recently joined the National Association for Interpretation and completed training as a certified interpretive guide with the intention of furthering my volunteer activities. MIT Education: SB Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, SM Ocean Systems (Shipbuilding) Management, Ocean Engineer (Naval Ship Design and Construction).