I was born and raised in Framingham, Massachusetts, and graduated from Framingham North High School (1990).
At Colgate University, I obtained a Bachelor of Arts in psychology (1990-1994). After reading Hrdy’s The Woman that Never Evolved and Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene, I became inspired to apply evolutionary theory to human behavior, which led me to apply to grad school.
I earned my PhD in the Department of Biological Anthropology & Anatomy at Duke University (1995 – 2001), and my advisor was Carel van Schaik. Although I conducted some research on wild primates, my doctoral research consisted of comparative studies of primate life history, social systems, and cognition.
I did postdoctoral research in Duke’s Department of Neurobiology (2001-2006), and my supervisor was Michael Platt. My research focused on mechanisms of social attention in primates. During this time I took up distance running and began investigating sex differences in performance and motivation.
In 2006, I joined the Psychology Department at Grand Valley State University.
I reside in East Grand Rapids with my wife and three children. My hobbies include distance running and coaching youth soccer.
