Research Interests
I graduated in Spring 2015 from the Environmental Resources Engineering program at Humboldt State University. My research interests include direct potable reuse of wastewater, renewable energy from biomass, algae biofuels and photovoltaic systems, environmental remediation of organics, inorganics and metals, and appropriate technologies for the developing world. To the extent that I can pursue these interests academically, I seize every opportunity. My research web page, hosted on the HSU servers, compiles some of my research on pyrolysis of waste materials for the creation of "syngas."
See my Mendeley groups for some academic papers I've organized for Copper Bioremediation, renewable energy for wastewater treatment plants, and economics of "housing first" to solve homelessness.
See my Mendeley groups for some academic papers I've organized for Copper Bioremediation, renewable energy for wastewater treatment plants, and economics of "housing first" to solve homelessness.
Governance Interests
Not too long ago I was a student government nerd at Cabrillo College and in the Student Senate for California Community Colleges. During my tenure I became very familiar with the inner workings of curriculum planning, the Cal Ed Code, facilities planning and so forth. For an English class I wrote a research paper to state the case for developing an office of sustainability at Cabrillo College, and you can see it here.
Community Interests
As a resident of Humboldt County off and on since 2011, I am still surprised by the lack of web presence and poor maintenance for local businesses here. With the help of some local business people, I worked to network the online professionals to solve this problem. The goal is to help both online professional and local businesses expand their market share beyond the geographic bounds of Humboldt County. Now that I no longer live in Humboldt, I would love to pass the baton to someone who wants to take this on. Please contact me if you are interested or want to contribute. Thanks!
Business Interests
As an MBA student of Strategic Sustainability at Humboldt State University, I synthesized my keen engineering background in research and data analysis, a design sensibility, an undying interest in environmental sustainability, years of practical experience as a sole proprietor, and a traditional business education. My main focus in Fall 2015 was a case study for product-market fit of a novel treatment system for heavy metal recapture in wastewater (municipal, industrial, mining, remediation).
Financial Interests
In 2020 I began to develop an interest in personal finance and estate planning. Did you know that:
Interest in personal finance led to deeper interest in small business with respect to finance, benefits, structuring a business so it does not rely on the founder and is easier to sell. Questions arise:
Finally...
- If I have a will but not a living trust, my estate still goes into probate at great legal expense to my heirs, who may have to fight claims to my estate from unknown 3rd parties.
- Even if I have a trust but some property or assets are not ennumerated and titled under the trust, that property and those assets are subject to probate.
- I can finance my permanent life insurance with leverage. It's called premium finance, and the threshold to qualify is just $100k in income annually.
- I can buy life insurance with pre-tax money inside of my 401(k).
- I can rollover an old 401(k) into a self-directed Solo 401(k) that I control and that facilitates every kind of investment that the IRS allows inside of this instrument.
- I can borrow the lesser of 50% of the funds in my 401(k) or $50k without a distribution, if I pay it back within 5 years at 4.5% interest.
- If I'm starting a business, I can use 401(k) money for a "Rollover for Business Startups" (ROBS).
- I can start a Solo 401(k) even if I have existing 401(k)s if I just have "business intent".
- If I'm a sole proprietor, I can restructure my business as an LLC and elect for S-corp taxation and be both employer and employee, pay myself a W-2 income with "reasonable compensation", pay myself benefits and write them off on the business side, and compensate myself up to 25% of my salary into my Solo 401(k). The remainder after salary compensation, retirement contributions and other business expenses I can pay to myself as the owner at just a 15.3% tax rate with a K-1. And the legal and accounting expense for all of this is a write-off. And this arrangement opens up whole sections of the tax code for optimization!
- I can book an appointment right now to get all of this going.
Interest in personal finance led to deeper interest in small business with respect to finance, benefits, structuring a business so it does not rely on the founder and is easier to sell. Questions arise:
- How to attract and retain talent?
- Is my business structured optimally for tax purposes?
- Am I taking advantage of current tax incentives like 100% accelerated depreciation? If I can acquire the building I'm leasing, and depreciate all of it, why don't I?
- Is my compensation optimal for tax purposes? Why am I not maxing out 25% of my compensation into a 401(k)? Why am I not taking a K-1 distribution at the end of the year at a 15.3% tax rate?
- Does my operating agreement reflect the actual operations of the business?
- What kinds of benefits are best for my employees and at the lowest cost?
- How can I optimize taxes for both the business and my employees by structuring compensation and benefits
- What happens if key personnel die or become incapacitated? How can I protect against that risk with processes and formal financial arrangements?
- How do I replace myself so I regain my time freedom and have the option to divest of the business without having to worry about quality assurance?
- A Supreme Court case in 2024 affected Buy-Sell Agreements funded by life insurance with respect to estate taxes and mine may be outdated and liable for taxes?
- Should I consider a Cross-Purchase Agreement to replace the Buy-Sell Agreement since my business fair market value exceeds the value of the threshold from the Supreme Court case?
Finally...
- The OBBB of 2025 includes a whole suite of positive changes affecting income tax planning, financial planning, estate planning, business planning and charitable planning, that you should know about, whether you're an employee or an employer.
Cryptocurrency and applications
Since 2013 I've been following the development of bitcoin and the infrastructure, communities, economy and marketplace, applications and resources in this space. It's been a wild ride. It still surprises me that there is such a disconnect between those who caught the bug and everyone else.
