About Steve

In addition to my professional and technical interests, I'm married and have four wonderful kids who range in age from five to thirteen.

From having lived abroad, I've developed a strong interest in the developing world and its unique challenges. I work with a project founded by the Commonwealth of Learning called WikiEducator, which uses Web 2.0 and social networking to build open educational resources for use primarily in the developing world. In 2008 I was elected by my fellow WikiEducators to our Community Council.

I'm very concerned about issues of justice, and am an advocate for civil and individual liberties. I also have a vegan lifestyle, primarily for related ethical reasons, but I also appreciate its positive effects on my own health and the environment.

I'm in grad school, working on a doctorate in economics and blogging about it. Despite this, I do not plan to become an economist; earning a doctorate is simply one of my life goals, and this program allows me to spend my spare time studying the fascinating Austrian school of economc thought.

I'm a tenor, and have eclectic tastes in music, appreciating everything from ambient to zydeco. I enjoy most eras of visual art, but particularly the surrealists. My favorite poet is William Blake. For reading I usually prefer science fiction, but also enjoy other well written works, such as those by V.S. Naipaul.

I believe that openness is better than control, and that communication solves more problems than secrecy. The future may be unknowable, but it is not unimaginable, and as an optimist, I like to think that our future will be one where people focus on what we all have in common, rather than on those things which divide us.