Transplanted to Phoenix when I was 2, I consider myself a native Arizonan. I lived and attended school in sunny Phoenix until 2008 when I moved to Los Angeles to start a PhD program at USC. I am a color synesthete*, so naturally I tended toward professionals that dealt with lots of color. I am also naturally curious about how and why the world works. So, it was geology (for the colorful minerals) and chemistry (for how the minerals got their color) that got me hooked on science. My specific interests have changed many times, but they always seem to have a colorful aspect of some sort, literally or synesthetically speaking. :) During Expedition 327, I am blogging to eighth grade students in Phoenix, and it's really, fun!