My parents could tell some exasperated stories about my early photographic career. I spent many hours crouched around our cats and dogs, getting shots at all angles and in all types of light. The finer subtleties that I have grown to appreciate in photography didn’t matter back then. Ok, that’s the nice way of putting it. “There are boxes of blurry cat and dog slides!” is the way my parents put it.

I’ve always worked with animals. At the age of 11 I started riding horses. This quickly grew into horse addiction and horse ownership and ruled most of my free time for almost 10 years. I volunteered at the New Milford Animal Welfare Society in Connecticut every weekend for four years in high school and on college breaks for a couple of years. My first real job was as a dog groomer and kennel assistant. Starting in eighth grade I watched surgeries at a small animal clinic and rode with an equine vet on his rounds. These experiences led to a job as a veterinary technician while I was in college.

Speaking of school, I attended Nonnewaug High School in Woodbury, Connecticut. It’s a regular ol’ high school except for the fact that it has the best agriculture program in the state, which I was a part of. It shocks many Vermonters to learn that I was able to attend a “flatlander” school where I worked with beef cattle, goats, pigs, sheep, horses, and a plethora of small critters. Did I mention the FFA tractor driving license that I was required to obtain as a freshman?

After high school I planted myself firmly in the north country and attended the University of Vermont. I graduated in 2005 with a B.S. in Animal Science. A pivotal program for me was CREAM (Cooperative for Real Education in Agricultural Management), the student-run dairy at the university. From there I concentrated my studies on dairy and agricultural business. I have been employed for the last 7 years by VT Dairy Herd Improvement Association as a dairy records specialist.