1. Tell us about yourself:
I am originally from Ohio, but have also lived in Oklahoma, Hawai’i, and Texas. Most everywhere I have lived was due to continuing education, but I always had random jobs to help fund that pursuit. I moved to Ventura 3 years ago from Corpus Christi, Texas where I earned a Ph.D. in Coastal and Marine Systems Science with a focus on satellite remote sensing from Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi.
2. What do you do for a job?
I am a meteorologist and work for the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District. I work in the Monitoring Division where we operate and maintain 5 Federal Standard monitoring stations that make continuous ambient air and meteorological observations. Our focus is on primary pollutants like ozone (smog) and particulate matter such as PM2.5 (smoke and vehicle emissions) and PM10 (dust).
3. Tell us something people might not know about you:
When I was a student at the University of Oklahoma my hobby was severe weather photography and storm chasing. I always had a penchant for severe weather and really got into the science of weather after seeing the movie Twister, though it took me a few years to actually make the leap and actually go to school to study it because the curriculum was a lot more difficult than I anticipated.
4. What brought you to CrossFit in the first place?
My first Box was CrossFit Kuleana in Honolulu. I got into personal fitness as a way to help implement some personal life changes and began by hiring a trainer because at that point the only thing I knew was what I learned in high school which was most likely wrong. Once I developed some basic knowledge I programmed my own workouts for a few years; however, when my interest began to wane, I needed to find something new. I started CrossFit because I wanted a more intense workout regimen than I was getting at a regular gym, and I wanted something that provided the opportunity to develop a wide range of skills and ability. The functional fitness aspect of CrossFit is what I found most appealing.
5. What was your first impression? How has that changed?
I enjoyed CrossFit from my first Foundations workout, but I didn’t really grasp what it was all about until I moved to Texas and dedicated more purpose toward being a part of the community and more energy toward personal development.
6. What was your first “bright spot”?
The first set of toes to bar that I ever did in a workout. I found the kipping part to be very difficult to learn and, quite honestly, my T2B still look a bit funky but old habits die hard.
7. What are you working on now?
I am focused on adding more running and yoga to my workout regimen. I haven’t been able to do either as much as I used to and felt yoga helped with mobility and running helped with workout endurance.
8. What’s your favorite Beachside Crossfit memory?
I enjoy watching people work hard and improve, so when anyone in the class performs a gymnastics skill, achieves a new PR, improves a benchmark time, or just completes a new movement for the first time, I find it inspiring. Those are the things that I tend to remember most.
