A Master Webmaster?
A Gladiator feels humbled as I wield his sword.
I’ve been building websites for over ten years. I am a member of WPMU and an affiliate developer with WooThemes. I wield Adobe CS5 and WordPress, and offer hosting and domain name services through 1and1.com. I have recently added e-commerce solutions and shopping cart designs to my web development toolkit, and offer technical support and tutorials on database and shopping cart management. Web design and development is an ever-evolving dance, where as soon as something is published it’s out of date. It can be rather humbling, but it keeps us web masters on our toes.
I have worked with government agencies and environmental not-for-profits to develop large CMS powered web sites, and with small-budget businesses to build modest static sites. In every case, with every new project, a new challenge awaits with new opportunities to apply the latest technologies. Through WordPress, my services have constantly evolved and I can offer more powerful tools to users. While web development is not great for the body (I used to be a master cyclist), it is fantastic brain gymnastics. And there is one thing I can say I am mastering while working in this industry, and that is the art of “self-taughtness”! I’m sure you other web masters can relate.
Urban Ecologist
This self-appointed title encapsulates my education and career background in Urban Forestry, Restoration Ecology, and Environmental Compliance Consulting. I have worked as a site manager of a $2.3 million wetland restoration project, as an environmental compliance inspector and consultant on the $11 million Red Hill Creek realignment, and a lead coordinator on the development of Peterborough’s Urban Forestry program.
While with Peterborough Green-Up, I sat on the Urban Forest Strategic Plan technical advisory committee and managed neighbourhood forest inventories throughout the city, liaising with homeowners, volunteers and businesses to promote urban forest benefits. Along with my good-natured human relation skills, I applied my background in I.T. and database management to help build the urban forest inventory GIS and develop the Treasured Tree Hunt validation database and website. I left the urban forest program in May 2010 to build a straw bale addition on my house, but I remain involved and support the program whenever I can through my volunteer efforts.
This title also describes my current focus as I continue to work with local environmental organizations (like The Peterborough Field Naturalists), the MNR, and consultants on community programs that promote cultural and natural heritage. Through my experience as Chair of Peterborough’s Municipal Heritage Committee—PACAC—I am developing and leading heritage home and tree walks throughout the city, as well as helping to spearhead Peterborough’s heritage tree awareness program. Through my efforts on the board of Peterborough Field Naturalists, I’m currently promoting the club’s new book “Nature in the Kawarthas”, a book geared to naturalists and all good folk living in urban ecosystems.
Dad
I have a great many interests including green buildings, coffee roasting, and cycling. But now they all circle around my core thoughts and values as a husband, partner, and father. Whatever I was interested in before is now overlaid with this new layer; parenthood. I haven’t been much of a writer before, but I’m interested in sharing thoughts and ideas that relate to this journey of making the world a better place—for our children.
