While doing my PhD at Stanford, I became interested in the clean tech movement.  I was particularly interested in Nitrogen Challenge, a little known issue that is "just as critical" as coping with global warming according to the National Academy of Engineers.  For me, it wasn't just a environmental issue.  As a native of rural Minnesota, I care a lot about rural businesses and saw this as an area where technology could help farmers become more profitable while also helping them be better stewards to their land.

In 2009 co-founded a company called Solum to create new soil testing technologies and soil analytics. As founding CEO, I raised money from a leading investors Khosla Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Google Ventures. In 2014 the soil testing business was acquired by Monsanto (now part of Bayer) to become part of The Climate Corporation, while a portion of the software company spun off as a new company called Granular.  I joined Climate as part of the Solum acquisition in 2014 and transitioned from leader in the measurement industry into a data science leadership role.  I had the privilege of working with many great people while at Solum and Monsanto and feel very proud of what we accomplished. 

Want to know more?  You can learn more about my journey with the Nitrogen Challenge in this medium post.