The preamble: Just so you know, if I don't get back to you right away it's most likey because I get little to no reception at our fieldstation.

NOTE: I wrote a lot and that is intentional. I want you to know exactly the kind of person I am and hope to leave no stone unturned. A lot of people say "I don't want to tell you everything about me because that stuff should be saved for if we meet up so that we have stuff to talk about." I think that is ridiculous. If you run out of things to talk about on a first date, regardless of how much you already know about someone, then you need to work on your conversation skills ;)

Also, I read every line of every profile that I check out (yes, I do not look at just pictures, believe it or not) and I wish more people did the same...

ANYWAYS, I am a full-on nerd but you'd never be able to tell at first (at least that's what everybody tells me)

Quick-run down:
Born and raised in Pittsburgh
Got my undergrad degrees at Pitt
I have degrees in biology, chemistry, history
Was pre-med oriented but after seeing the way people in the medical field acted and how little they cared about their patients I decided I wanted nothing to do with it.
Moved to California with my ex girlfriend for 2 years and then moved back here for graduate school.
Worked at the Pittsburgh Zoo for a year in the conservation education department where I taught classes and got to showcase lots of really cool animals, give behind the scenes tours, etc.
Now I'm in my third year of a PhD program in Pitt's Ecology and Evolution branch of the biology department.

Things about me:
-I used to be an actual professional video game player when I was in High School (yeahhh I wasn't lying about being a nerd). On the positive side, I earned enough to completely pay off my college education and accrued absolutely no debt. Don't worry, I don't play video games that much anymore.
-I love the winter
-I am an avid snowboarder, soccer player, swimmer, runner, triathlete and I am currently training for a marathon and Tough Mudder
-I'm one of the most outgoing people I know
-I don't get mad and don't do well with people that are perpetually angry. Life's too short to be pissed off all the time <--- bonus points if you know what move that line is from.
-I enjoy going to the gym
-I have tattoos
-I love kids and animals
-I am a pretty good artist but I rarely show my work.
-I love a good IPA
-I can cook decently well (at least I think so). I've only cooked for two people and they seemed to really enjoy it. They could have been lying though...
-I am fast. To give you a reference point I am somewhere between a snake and a mongoose…and a panther (more bonus points if you know where this is from)
-I've never had a salad or drank a coffee
-I won a total of 6, yes 6, baseball trophies as a kid (P.S. someone's a badass and that someone is me)
-I have no pets because I feel bad about leaving animals alone
-I hate feet. You would assume I've had some sort of traumatic experience with feet like having found a severed foot or something but no I just despise feet so I never wear sandals.
-I'm addicted to going to museums and learning as much as I can with the time I'm given on this planet

I used this site about two years ago and really enjoyed it. I met a few new friends and dated someone I met from this site for about a year and a half. Life happened and things didn't work out so I am back for another go :)

Full-time PhD student at Pitt where I teach ecology and/or genetics.

Excruciatingly exciting stuff.

Making others laugh.
Trivia competitions.
Quoting movies.
Swimming.
Juggling a soccer ball.
Procrastinating.
Saving money on plane tickets/hotels.

I've been told I have a nice smile and "pretty" eyes... le sigh

On an additional note, a random girl came up to me at a holiday party last week and told me she wanted to "suck my lips off of my face" so I guess those might have got her attention as well.

Books: The Game of Thrones series, anything by Shakespeare, Paradise Lost by Milton, Dante Aligheri's The Inferno, anything by Chuck Palahniuk, Darwin's collective works on Natural Selection, 1984, War and Peace, Into the Wild, Life of Pi, Mountains Beyond Mountains, A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, anything by Carl Sagan or Richard Feynman, Moby Dick, Ulysses, The Odyssey, House of Leaves, the Lord of the Rings series, etc.

Movies: Lucky Number Slevin, Smoking Aces, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Seven, Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind, Inception, The Oceans 11 Series, Donnie Darko, American History X, Waking Life, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Snatch, V for Vendetta, The Life Aquatic W/ Steve Zissou, Scarface, Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, Waking Life, Supertroopers, Inception, 500 Days of Summer, The Phantom of the Opera etc

Music: Bob Marley, 311, Chiodos, Arsonists Get All The Girls, Coheed and Cambria, The Mars Volta, Incubus, Skrillex, Deadmau5, Senses Fail, A Day to Remember, Sublime, Hours Eastly, Circa Survive, A7X, Kid Cudi, Finch, Bassnectar, Taking Back Sunday, Say Anything, Muse, God is an Astronaut, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Fall of Troy, Carnifex, The Devil Wears Prada, I Set My Friends on Fire, Silverstein and oh so many more. I have about 85k songs on my computer. Basically if it's not country, I'll give it a whirl.

TV: I usually watch shows on National Geographic, Science (TED talks are the best), Food Channel, Discovery, Animal Planet etc. My favorite shows though are The Office, Parks and Recreation, It's Always Sunny, the Ricky Gervais Show, Game of Thrones, Workaholics, Man vs. Food, etc.

Food: Anything except vegetables. I'll eat some of them, but it is a select few. I love animals to death and I have nothing against vegetarians or vegans, but I need to eat meat. Kudos to you though for your devotion.

Family/friends
Sushi
Comedy/laughing
Nature/animals
Differential air pressure between my lungs and the air around me
Brain activity

Yeah I ran out of things to put down pretty quickly. As it turns out, I can live without most things

The meaning of life, whether or not ghosts exist, what I'm doing with my life, whether or not any of us truly have free will, why the Steelers feel the need to assert themselves as a run-oriented team when clearly their best assets are their passing options, why people think scientists are boring or closed-minded, how many Earth-like planets are out there, whether it is better to be all theory and no action or all action and no theory, etc

I'll give you a few options. All are equally likely.

At home relaxing from a long week and watching a movie
At a bar enjoying some good craft beers with friends (nowhere near the South Side)
At the gym
Mayyyybe doing karaoke if I am with other fellow people who don't mind looking stupid
At the Science Center to see a laser light show
At a concert/show somewhere

In gym class when I was a kid we played crab soccer and I intentionally kicked the classroom bully in the head. I scuttled away and he never found me.

I can name basically every character in every Star Wars film. Even stupid stuff like the aliens in the Mos Eisley Cantina.

I can unabashedly admit that I have watched the "Too Cute" series on Animal Planet. Completely emasculating but I don't really care.

I've seen The Phantom of the Opera live a total of 19 times. Also, I feel that I can strongly relate to the Phantom in many ways but I will spare you the existential commentary there.

I am not shy or secretive and will answer just about anything you would care to know.

you want to ?

In all honesty, if you think we'd get along just send me a message. I've been told I am a pretty nice guy from at least a handful of reputable people :)

I'm looking for someone who is independent, fun, outgoing, active, intelligent, willing to try new things, spontaneous, and doesn't mind looking silly/stupid when going on adventures. You should have a good head on your shoulders and should like to travel because I try to do that as much as I possibly can. Not looking to rush into anything. Just want to explore the world a bit and looking for a partner in crime to do that with. If things go well, I am more than ready to settle down at this juncture in my life but I have no set schedule that I am trying to follow. Bonus points if you are willing to join me for triathlons (or at least training for them :) )

I usually hesitate to message women first. I know from having met people through this site when I first used it just how often women get messages and how creepy most of these messages are. I don't want to get grouped in with the weirdos on this site so I rarely message but I always do my best to respond to anyone who messages me. If I do message you it's because I definitely like what I read and I was feeling particularly ambitious.

PS if we ever do hang out and things are not going well I'll just get up and yell "There's a camera over here, and one over here. I'm an actor, they are all actors and you are on MTV's disaster date." Then I will run away and you'll never have to see me again.

..........I don't think it will come to that but hey, you should always have a plan B.