When I majored in Human Biology at Stanford, I was actually amazed that I was even IN that track. I was an actor and a humanities person. But the interdisciplinary major looked at issues from the perspective of biology and culture and I LOVED it. The question was: What could I DO with it???

​

I spent a fair number of years wondering what my calling was supposed to be. I had a Stanford diploma that was supposed to "open doors," but for years, there were only crickets and a long string of attempts to land in a career. It was a good day when, in the middle of working on my Master's thesis, I realized that I was finally using my college major and it made me (and my parents) so happy.

​

I've approached my questions about sleep training and culture both from the perspective of research, as well as how that research is communicated to parents in the form of expert advice and popular media. It's biology and culture, and how they are mutually influenced by the other.

​

I'm a third-generation native of Ojai, California and grew up not far from there. I've lived for the past nearly 25 years outside of Seattle, (where it does not rain nearly as much as we tell people it does).