I am a third generation Irish-American raised on Anishinaabe land in Toledo, Ohio. I played soccer, mowed lawns, and read Vonnegut. After college, I moved to Wyoming to hike and ski. I became a journalist and spent a decade or so writing about art, culture, and environmental and social justice from the Mountain West to the Southwest and California. Today, I live and work on Kumeyaay land (San Diego, California) with my kids, my partner, and our dog Harley.

Currently, I teach Ethnic Studies at Cal State San Marcos and Public Rhetoric at the University of California San Diego. Previously, I taught American Studies, Native Studies, Cultural Studies, and Writing at San Diego State University, the University of Wyoming, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and Central New Mexico Community College. I earned a PhD in American Studies from the University of New Mexico in 2020 and an MFA in Creative Writing from SDSU in 2008.