I was born on August 30, 1978. I grew up in Farmington Utah, but have lived in Galt and Sacramento California, Stillwater Oklahoma, Quarto(IT), Naples(IT), Chieti(IT), Nuoro(Sardegna), Ascoli Piceno (IT), and am currently living in Tempe Arizona. I speak english and italian. I travel for work/research on a fairly regular basis and have been to places like Nicaragua,Cameroon, and Chile.
I graduated summa cum laude from Weber State University in Ogden, Utah with a degree in Geology with a minor in Physics. While I was working on my B.S. I worked at the Ott Planetarium and Observatory as a lecturer and staff. When I graduated, I moved to Tempe to attend graduate school at Arizona State University. I am currently working on an MS in Volcanology.
I have a number of hobbies, obviously one of them is Bengal Cats. I also enjoy playing with electronics. My other hobbies involve outdoor activities such as camping, hiking, mtn biking, rock climbing/rappelling, traveling/exploring. I have always loved animals. My favorite show growing up was Marty Staufers Wild America. I took AP Biology in high school, and made it up through vertebrate zoology in college. I've had a number of odd pets, from Red-Eyed Tree Frogs and Mantellas to Iguanas, Anoles, Geckos, and snakes to Gerbils, Hamsters,Chinchillas and Rabbits to Cats and Dogs. So far the Bengals have been my favorites.
I made the mistake of buying my first Bengal from an individual who gave me more than a cat. In fact there were several oranisms that came with the cat, chief among them was ringworm fungus, and a nasty viral cold. When I picked her up, she was missing a lot of hair, and her ears were completely bald, which the seller assured me was due to overgrooming from the mother. I thought she looked fairly pitiful, but the breeder showed me a picture of a past kitten and suggested she would look like that kitten later on. So I took her home thinking all she needed was a little TLC. So we let her sleep in our beds and something like three days later had to rush her to the vet because she could barely breathe. The vet clued us off that the hairloss may be due to ringworm fungus. The vet ran a test, but I didn't have to wait for the results because virtually everyone who had handled the kitten started breaking out with red rings all over their bodies. When I called the breeder, he completely denied any responsability, and at that time with some pressure admitted he had dipped her in Lime Sulfur one time as a kitten. For the record, it is illegal to sell any animal in the state of Arizona without informing the buyer of any medical treatment the animal has received. Anyone who is aware of ringworm knows just how much one lime sulfur dip will do to the fungus, which is virtually nothing. After pain and suffering and treatment after treatment, and two different vets, I finally decided to try a drug called Program. It had been suggested to me by a friend who's mother was a vet. I read up on it and learned it was an anti flea medication which prohibited flea growth on animals through inhibition of the key component in insect exoskeletons Chitin. This is also used by the fungus to construct its cell walls, which is what makes Program so functional. So I tried it, and the ringworm fungus was gone within a week.
