Background:  I was born on Pico Island.  Pico is part of the Azores archipelago, which belongs to Portugal.  The Azores are about 800 miles west of Portugal in the middle of the Atlantic.  When I was thirteen my family decided to immigrate to the United States and so on November 4th 1988 we moved to California.  Like most people who immigrate from the Azores to California, my brothers and father got jobs on dairies and so I spent the next few years living and working part time at various dairies.  After high school I got a full-time job (60hrs per week) milking cows at a very nice dairy in Modesto, CA.  During this time I went to Modesto Junior College (MJC) part time and after three years I transferred to California State University Stanislaus where I studied for three more years until I received my BS in biology in May of 1999.  The next Fall I began my Masters in Entomology at Washington State University and after graduating in 2002 I moved to Florida to pursue a Ph.D. in Entomology (one of my proudest moments during my stay in Washington).
Wife:   I met Joanna in September of 2000 and would have married her right away but she wouldn't have it.  She said that a proper weeding took a long time to plan and made me wait until June 29th, 2002 when we were married at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in SLC, Ut (wedding photo here).  You could say we were set up.  Carol Sheppard, a faculty member and friend at WSU was bent on getting me hitched to someone and finally she succeeded when she bought everyone tickets to the Seattle Symphony and purposefully sat Joanna and me next to each other.  The rest is history.
Joanna was at WSU pursuing a Masters in Zoology.  She successfully completed her degree and we graduated in May 2002 just before our wedding.  Joanna studies invertebrate eco-physiology and is looking at how marine clams and worms survive in harsh environments.  Joanna is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in the department of zoology here at UF.
Son Lucas: Lucas was born on Nov. 29, 2006 at 4:14 in the afternoon.  he weighed in at 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 19 inches long.  LUCAS VIDEO
Family:  My immediate family all lives in California.  My oldest brother is the herdsman (headcheese) for an all Jersey cow dairy with more than 3000 head.  Dairy work is not for everybody, but he truly enjoys it and the pay isn't bad either.  Joe has worked on dairies ever since we moved to the US in 1988.  My sister Arminda is a registered nurse at Memorial Hospital in Modesto, CA.  She received her nursing degree from MJC in 1997 and has quickly moved up the ranks at her work.  She has been the charge nurse (headcheese) of her floor (post-opp recovery) since 2000.  My brother John worked on dairies and in construction for several years but found that type of work wasn't for him.  In 1996 he became a "trucker."  He drove someone else's rig for one year and then proceeded to buy his own truck, then trailers.  Last year John bought a brand new tractor trailer (big rig/truck) that cost more than my first house and makes more money than I'll ever make in academia.  I guess you could say John is his own boss (headcheese).  My mother is a homemaker and lives with my sister.  My father passed away in 1989.
Dogs:
I have never owned a dog.  Joanna, on the other hand, has nearly always owned one dog.  I say one dog because Joanna's family acquired a pointer mix (Hoagie) when Joanna was only four years old.  As it turns out, Hoagie lived an amazing 18 years and passed away when Joanna was 22, just as she was finishing her BS in biology at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and getting ready to move to Washington to pursue her masters.  When we were looking to buy a house here in Florida Joanna insisted we find one with a big backyard.  Two months after we bought our house we rescued a Rhodesian Ridgeback whom we named Max
 
Max-He was four years old and a former show dog who was given away after he could no longer compete because of a minor dental injury.  And so now there's a ninety pound ball of muscle running around the house, and the backyard, and the front yard, and the park, and anywhere else we let him run.  Max is actually a very nice looking and very well behaved dog and we were really lucky to get him.  Here are a few pictures of Max doing some of his favorite things  (see Max here). 

Pico- Joanna finally convinced me that Max needed some company for the lonely long days while we are at work.  The remedy for this situation now goes by the name of Pico.  Pico is also a Rhodesian Ridgeback and like Max, was also rescued from Ridgeback rescue.  Pico is just over one year old and is still very much a puppy.  We are having lots of fun with him and the two "boys" are tearing up the yard on a regular basis (see Pico here).

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