I earned a PhD in linguistics from the University of Minnesota in 2012. This was a midlife venture; I'd already lived 45 years at that point. I started teaching as an adjunct lecturer in HSU's English department that fall, then accepted an offer to work as the university's director of academic assessment in 2017. I still occasionally teach linguistics to keep my knowledge of teaching and learning fresh—and because I love teaching.

Here are some of my interests and formative experiences outside of academia, in no particular order:

Before becoming a linguist, I worked as an office manager, an organic farm apprentice, a copyeditor, a carpenter, a produce buyer, and an ESL teacher…. I took a long motorcycle trip in the summer of 1992, riding from San Francisco to Chicago to Minneapolis to Banff to Alaska to Seattle to Glacier National Park back to Minneapolis to Quebec to Vermont to the Allegheny Mountains and back to Minneapolis again…. I've also traveled to Scotland, Wales, England, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Spain, Thailand, and Cambodia. Tough to choose a favorite. Probably Spain; maybe Thailand…. I trained regularly in Brazilian jiu jitsu for several years in my 30s. I miss it, but my body is no longer young and pliable…. I used to speak Spanish pretty well, but I'm rusty; muscles atrophy when you don't use them. I passed a Swedish competency exam for my PhD requirements, but that competence is long gone…. I'm a huge music nerd and snob. The characters in the film High Fidelity are my people…. Weight training and motorcycle wrenching are a couple of my favorite activities. My bike's approaching its fiftieth birthday, so I've been giving it a long, thorough overhaul….