I am a French guy from the Alps, my family still lives there in Seynod, Haute-Savoie. You might know this part of the world from the main city next to Seynod: Annecy or the Little Venice! Or maybe you are more familiar with the Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe? My parent's house is in the foothills of the Alps really. Finally, you might know Geneva in Switzerland, 40 km from Seynod.

The Paquier.

The small boat docks.

More of the small boat docks.

The castle, from ~1400.

The big boat docks.

The canal with the prison island.

The mountains surrounding the lake.

More mountains around the lake.

The "state house" (prefecture de Haute-Savoie).

View from the lovers' bridge.

The old city.

Another part of the old city with a clock tower.

Tiny street over the canal.

My story

Right now, if you've been looking at the pictures from the slideshow or even on google image, you should really ask yourself why did this guy ever leave this region? Well, I don't really know, but I can tell you that I miss my Alps and at the same time I never regretted leaving them. After all, I've got a good life where I'm at now too. First there is my ex-partner in life Jacqueline (ex-wife now, but still no regrets), without whom I would never have been able to achieve a tenth of what I've done. Second, there are all my animals or amnimals as I like to call them: Ilana my Bernese Mountain dogs and my fish who will remain unnamed but they are awesome (two pleco and two angel fish)!

After my master degree in Dijon, France (the wine, bread, and cheese country) I decided to cross the Atlantic ocean just to see what is on the other side. I was a PhD student co-advised by Dr. Ashley Seifert and Dr. Jeremy Van Cleve at the University of Kentucky. They focus on evolutionary ecology in an effort to understand the structure as well as dynamics of ecological populations and communities, life histories, and underlying behavioral mechanisms. My personal scientific focus relies on inter-species interactions, species behavior, and ecosystem engineering using crayfish in freshwater streams. I defended my PhD in December 2019 while I got a job as a faculty member at Wake Technical Community College (WTCC) in Raleigh, NC.

I am really excited about this new adventure and cannot wait to tell you more about it soon. Long story short, Jacqueline (my ex-wife) got into NCSU veterinary school (class of 2023) after she obtained her Biology Ph.D. in March so we moved to Raleigh, NC over the summer 2019. Therefore, I had to look for a job and found this amazing place that is WTCC. I have no idea how I’ve done it, but I am so thankful they took me in to teach biology. This is a dream come true if I’m being honest: I’m being paid to teach biology!!!

As you can see on this website, my interests range from scientific research to education and outreach. I don't know where I'm going in life really, but I know I'm in good company so why not enjoying the ride?

About

My story