Biography
I was born in Flushing New York in 1954. I attended St. Kevin parochial school until grade 8, and played in their marching band (fife, bugle and eventually drums). I attended Bishop Reilly High School where my main extra-curricular activity was yearbook photographer, and also had a home dark room. I attended City University of NY at Queens College where I completed my BS and MS degrees in Environmental Science and Geology, along with a teaching certification. My graduate thesis involved geologic field mapping in eastern Maine, where I analyzed the structure and stratigraphy of strata related to the closing/opening of the early Atlantic margin. I held summer jobs working as a geologist intern for the State of Maine and for the Washington State Public Power Supply System. My primary hobbies during college were sport motorcycles and music, primarily guitar. Following college, I taught high school for a year and then moved to Texas where I spent 6 years as an oil and gas exploration geologist. I returned to New York in 1987 and began my teaching career at Dryden High School where I currently teach Physics and Earth Science and am the science department chairman. My current interests include drumming for the Tarps, a classic rock cover band, skiing, motorcycling, sports cars, triathlons, mountain biking, kayaking, and camping in the Adirondacks. When I have free time, I design and execute home projects, pretty much anything from appliance repair to garage construction, tiling to wiring, and roofing to car repair. I am a Cinemapolitan (our local art cinema) and foodie. I keep a pretty full plate and I like it that way; life is good!
School Work
I currently teach Concurrent Enrollment College Physics at Dryden High School, which is an 8 credit, two-course program affiliated with Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3). I initiated this course some 18 years ago and have developed a vast arsenal of demonstrations and activities for it. I occasionally teach other physical sciences including Earth Science (currently), Environmental Science, Astronomy, and Science 8. I present a “best of” lecture demonstration for high school science teachers at TC3 each summer. I have participated in Cornell’s CIPT summer program and various other programs. I am procuring two GoPro video cameras with their highest available frame rate for the coming school year in order to have students “capture real physics in action.” The hope is that some of the student videos will reveal “physics that happens to fast to see,” captured on camera and replayed in slow motion.