What is your favorite Latin plant name?

Well, it isn't a Latin name, but I've always liked the way "Loblolly Pine" rolls off the tongue. Sequoiadendron giganteum is also kind of cool. Diphyllobothrium latum is another favorite, but it is a parasitic tapeworm we get from fish, not a plant!

What was the last book you completed?

Evocations of Grace: Writings on Ecology, Theology, and Ethics by J. Sittler was the last one I really got through. It was a tough read in places. It is mainly a series of elegant sermons and essays on how Christians should think about and treat God's creation, written long before the current Stewardship Ecology and ecology movements began.

What books are on your reading list before the end of the year?

There are a million I've got sitting on my shelves, but I really want to read Clancy's newest, The Bear and the Dragon, and I hope to reread at least the first book in Tolkien's trilogy before the first movie opens in December. I also hope to read Colson's How Now Shall We Live. I doubt if any of them will get read by December 31, however, so I am thinking of the end of the academic year.

Besides being a professor at APU, what is your dream job?

At APU, the only other job I would want would be Randy Berk's, the man in charge of keeping the landscaping so incredible on campus. He is my hero! Elsewhere, I would probably like any job that allowed me to live on the outer banks of North Carolina.

What one piece of advice do you give to your graduating seniors?

Get a lifetime subscription to Time, Newsweek, or some other news magazine. This is Paul Little's recommendation in How to Give Away Your Faith. It's a great way to stay informed in all areas, and to, therefore, have more opportunities to witness to others.

What was the topic of your dissertation? How did you choose it?

"The effects of prescribed burning on the mycorrhizae of Loblolly Pine". I wanted to combine working for my favorite profs who were in soil biology and plant pathology and I had access to the oldest continually prescribed burning study site in the world, outside of Charleston, South Carolina.

What is your favorite shade of blue during March Madness?

As anyone who knows anything knows, there is only one shade of blue, whether during March Madness or any other time of the year: Blue Devil blue!