Bret is from Olympia, Washington, where he graduated from the Evergreen State College, volunteered as a firefighter and EMT, and worked in a local hospital. Currently, he studies rare Baker cypress ecosystems as a master?s student at Humboldt and research assistant to the Wildland Fire Lab. His research projects include post-fire regeneration, fuel succession, fire behavior modeling, and habitat suitability modeling. In the future Bret hopes to be involved in forest management and restoration projects.