I was raised in western Washington, but left for college, and graduated in 1963. I was a high school science teacher in Tanzania until 1966, then entered graduate school at the University of Washington, and received the PhD degree in genetics in 1970. My first job was at UCLA, and in 1972 I took a position at UCSD, where I remained until retirement in 2007.I moved to Port Angeles in 2008 and joined the WSU Extension Master Gardener Program. I was program coordinator from 2009 to 2012. Since then, I have concentrated my master gardener activities on our Green Thumb Education Series.