Tristan loves volcanos, hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, and floods. He doesn't really like pandemics. Raised in the fourth largest American city, he likes the hustle of a big population but is happiest with sandy feet and salty hair.

Born to a flight attendant and a traveling salesman, Tristan has lived in Europe and every North American time zone, including Hawaiian. He finds exploring new places, languages, and experiences key to life’s enjoyment.

His love of the beach channeled him into the world of research oceanography where he studied waves and currents. He learned to code while flying underwater gliders and analyzing data from the sea. He then disappeared into the snowy Cascade mountains to measure the Earth’s electromagnetic signature — the whale-song of our planet— and after high-fiving Bigfoot, re-emerged to discover the iPhone and the glorious internet.

Sensing his creative side wilting with all the black-and-white research, Tristan moved to California and into the world of web design. A few late nights and plenty of good mentors later, he sharpened his skills for coding and design, and absorbed enough knowledge to deep dive into the world of web development.

In 2022, Tristan led the UC Davis web team to win the highest honor in the web industry. The 2022 People's Choice Webby Award for Best University Website is the first and only Webby award that UC Davis has won, and also the first Webby award any university in the University of California system has ever won.

Now, when he’s not exploring new tech or waiting for a webpage to load, you can find Tristan walking campus and ordering iced tea from the CoHo. He’s never far from the water or music, and he’s probably barefoot right now.

Heroes

Amelia Earhart for her unstoppable bravery, Hakeem Olajuwon who showed us the true heart of a champion, the tragic hero Darth Vader for his redemption arc, and Ender Wiggin who, for better or worse, saw no barriers.

Guilty pleasure

Dragons, dragons, and more dragons.

Little known fact

Tristan wrote his first program in Logo in 1984. It was 8 lines of code and it actually worked; the turtle made a square.

Most influential quote

“If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let ‘em go, because, man, they're gone.”  — Jack Handey