I grew up in Northern California, received a BS (Biochemistry) at Cal Davis, and an MS and PhD (Plant Pathology) from U. Kentucky. I lived and did some biochemical engineering research in Southern California for about a decade before moving to Las Cruces, NM with my family. I worked in the Plant and Environmental Sciences Department at New Mexico State University for nearly 20 years before retiring in 2018.

I've always enjoyed astronomy. I had a small telescope when I was young. While at Cal Davis, I occasionally observed through the 12.5" scope atop Hutchison Hall. After a hiatus from astronomy in the 90s (the soccer years), I decided to get serious about astronomy as a hobby. I purchased a Discovery 8" reflector, and enjoyed looking viewing the night skies until the scope was stolen from my yard. About a year later I bought a Celestron NexStar 11" GPS.

I joined the Astronomical Society of Las Cruces soon after purchasing my C11. It's a great club with around 50 members. I owe much of my enjoyment and success in astronomy and imaging to the wonderful people in the club. I've twice served as Club President. I currently do their web page. The site took top honors as the best astronomy club web site back in 2009!!

When I joined the club, a few of the members were doing webcam astrophotography, and I decided to give it a try. I picked up a ToUCam and really enjoyed the experience. A year or so later, I picked up a Canon 300D to do deep space imaging. I later had the camera modifed by Hutech to extend its range into the far red. I've now had three modified Canon DSLRs. I started doing CCD imaging in 2017, but still enjoy the simplicity of the DSLR.

I've slowly added to my equipment over the years. I bought an Orion ED80 in 2005 through which I have done much of my early imaging. I built a 16" truss tube reflector the same year with the help of my good friend, Nils. I picked up a Hyperstar 3 for the C11 which gave me an ED80 field of view at f/2. It's an incredible system. I bought a used Stellarview 115 triplet in 2014, and replaced my C11's fork/wedge mount with a Losmandy G11. The Gemini system was eventually upgraded to a Gem-2 and an RA extender was added. Electronic focusers came next. Everything is now computer controlled under the N.I.N.A. platform.

A few of my images have received some measure of acclaim. I've had three images published as the Astronomy Picture of the Day: 1) A Lunar Analemma (7/15/2005); 2) an image of Comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin) (2/25/2009); and 3) an image of Comet McNaught near NGC 1245 (6/27/2010). The Lulin image (probably the best image I ever made given the technology available at the time) made it into books, magazines - all sort of places, and even won me an award or two. My image of M31 was featured on the Celestron.com website for some time, and an image of M20 was featured in their 2009 catelog. My Messier Marathon composite won the People's Choice award at the 2009 Texas Star Party. The Hewitt1 image was published in Astronomy Magazine. I received an honorable mention at the Lodestar Astrophoto contest for a composite of the October 2004 lunar eclipse. A composite moon phase image was published in Night Sky (November/December 2006). A few of my images (M20, M51, M1) have won or placed second in the monthly (now defunct) Digital Astro (Yahoo Group) contests. A color-enhanced image of the 8-day moon won 1st place for solar system imaging at the 2007 Texas Star Party as did my Comet Lulin image in 2009. I also won the best Astrophoto award (the people's choice award) for my Messier Marathon collage at TSP in 2009.

Aside from astronomy, I enjoy hiking camping (even a little backpacking though it gets harder every year). Sometimes I bike a lot (sometimes not). I try to golf a few times a week. I I retired once, did a business start then re-retired in 2020. I'm socially liberal, economically moderate, and very aggrevated with poor governance on both sides of the aisle.

Lastly - I'm part of a wonderful family. While my wife and kids may mildly complain about daddy's all-night astronomy exploits (and how much money I spend), they're mostly pretty supportive. I count myself as being very lucky to be a part of such a loving family (somewhat dated photo on right).

    Peace (please)