I was born in New York City and grew up there, in Hong Kong, and ultimately Half Moon Bay, CA.  I did my undergraduate work at UC Santa Cruz in biochemistry, and worked with Harvard physiologist John Pappenheimer on digetive physiology, while applying to graduate school.  My graduate work at Cornell University began in avian embryology with Drew Noden, and ended with a Ph.D. on convergent evolution in anteating mammals with Deedra McClearn.  I became interested in chipmunks when I moved to Humboldt, and after a short stint as a lecturer at Humboldt moved to College of the Redwoods where I teach zoology, marine biology, natural history, and human anatomy.