About

From Seattle, with roots in faraway places.

I was fortunate to grow up in a place surrounded by the passionate and curious people of the Seattle area. For almost every niche interest I could find, there was somebody nearby with decades of reading and observations I could talk to. Many people from Seattle think about the rest of the world during our long dark season, and I grew up looking at maps and thinking about how different places are connected.

When I was younger, I was able to spend a few summers on my grandfather’s small ranch outside of Cusco, Peru. I saw a way of life in a town with one landline phone and no internet connection.

Data

I have spent the last few years working with incredibly interesting data, often at dizzying scale on various clouds. I have been fortunate to experiment with rapidly evolving tools and techniques, and now devote much of my coding time to thinking about what is now called “data engineering” or “ML ops”. I most enjoy supporting Data Scientists, making the process of creating, testing, and deploying models as seamless for them as possible.

More broadly, I want to help promote numeracy and quantitative thinking.

Measure plants, not people.

I am studying everything I can to prepare to produce food with my brother in a few years. I think a lot about modern food production, adapting growing practices to a changing and more variable climate, introducing people to new plants, supply chains, and best practices for data teams and individual practitioners.

A younger version of me thought more data was the answer to everything. Recommender systems were going to save the world! After a few roles with access to large quantities of deeply sensitive personal information, I am less convinced of the utility of the current surveillance/marketing paradigms.

What drives me

I grew up in a family of 5 children, and this was an incredible experience to which I am extremely grateful to my parents. This puts us in the top 1% of household size. While there was considerable attention given to the top 1% of income earners in the last few years, I wish there was more attention and aspiration directed to the most successful family outcomes. As I get ready to become a father, I think a lot about the world my next generation will grow up in. I want their peers to belong to strong families who are invested in their neighborhood. Since the age cohort to which I belong, the infamous Millennial group, has largely opted out from this way of thinking, I look to communities around the world that prioritize family life, even at the expense of purely financial metrics.

Advocacy

I am happy to advise on projects and initiatives that deal with environmental restoration, biodiversity, regenerative agriculture, and plant breeding.

I am also open to work (only with a completed FARA filing) advocating for the following countries: