About Dan
Experience
working parent • school board member • K-12 science teacher • high school Career & Technical Education advisor • planetarium director • university instructor • science museum CEO • wildfire recovery consultant • grant writer • Federally-Qualified Health Center Senior Director • college foundation Executive Director • housing nonprofit founder • small business owner • NASA researcher • touring musician • artist
Background
Dan was born in central California to a school bus driver and agricultural laborer that both worked night shifts at a convenience store to put themselves through school and support their family. His father became a United Methodist minister to start a new church on the Nevada side of the Great Basin, where he grew up. During high school he volunteered at the local planetarium and lettered in academics. He received a Presidential scholarship to the University of Nevada and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree after spending an additional year at Portland State University and working at OMSI.
Dan worked for five years at a small printing company and teaching adjunct to make ends meet before joining higher education administration to run a public science center on campus. He received his Masters' in Secondary Education with a focus in STEM and worked for a decade mentoring K-12 CTE students in partnership with the school district and community college.
In 2018, Dan moved his family to Oregon to lead a nonprofit science museum with a vision to engage visitors into understanding the effects of climate-change on our region's natural resources. In 2020, COVID and wildfires devastated our small neighboring communities, and he transitioned to fire-recovery consulting work that led to implementing programs for impacted folks at a Federally-Qualified Community Health Center.
Most recently, Dan served as the head of a college foundation that supports student success toward our rural industries' needed workforce. He serves as an elected official on the Ashland School Board and co-founded a nonprofit with district colleagues to address housing barriers for families and education employees.
Dan lives in Southern Oregon with his two teenage sons and his dog. In his spare time he enjoys music and bike camping across our state.
