Who am I and What I do:
I’m
a professor at Cal Poly Pomona in Southern California and teach
Biochemistry and sometimes Organic Chemistry. I have a number
of research interests that range from the role of metals in biology
to the study of extremophiles. I got my Ph.D. from U.C. Davis
(in Organic Chemistry) and lived in Northern California for about
ten years. During that time, I did a postdoctorate at U.C.
Santa Cruz where I worked on the inhibition kinetics of lipoxygenase
and the peaceful nature of crashing waves and redwood trees. I
also worked at the NASA Ames Research Center for a few years, where
I had my first chance to discover the broad fields of Astrobiology
and Nanobiotechnology.
What got me interested:
I
was always interested in science and the inherent logic of Life. As
a student in school and college, it was the science of space, the
origins of the universe, the realm of atoms, and the precision
of biomolecules that I found to be the most compelling of subjects. Sometime
during college, I also discovered a talent in communication and
thus dedicated my Life to becoming a teacher.
Things about me:
I
grew up mostly in San Diego but spent much of my childhood in the
Midwest. I moved around a lot as kid and as a result love
to travel to far away places. Traveling around the world
with a small backpack is a major hobby of mine. Some of my
favorite places that I traveled to include Laos, Angor Wat in Cambodia,
Bagan in Burma (Myanmar), the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, Hampi in
India, Sydney (Australia), and Rome (Italy).