Allen Davidson

I met my wife at a week long workshop for tomato mold in 1993. I sat my microscope next to hers on the first day, we had our first date that night, and we've been together ever since. We got married in June of 1995.
My wife is a Biologist as well but after the birth of our youngest son decided to stay home with the kids for awhile. That's worked out pretty well for us. It is nice for the kids to be able to come home and not be in child care, plus my step-son Ryan has Asperger's syndrome (a type of autism) and it gives her a chance to work with him on becoming independant.
Rose is also a very good seamstress. She made her wedding dress (when I get around to it I'll post a picture from our wedding). We were living together the whole time she was working on it and I never saw it till she was heading down the aisle.

A few years ago I started selling products at one of our local farmers markets during the summer. I started with just home made laundry soap, progressed to also doing baked goods and also produce and plants. I really love it and am so glad I started doing it. This fall (2012) I will be launching my own home based seed company--mainly for heirloom tomato seed but also some beans, cucumbers, peppers, and eggplant. When I get that started I will add a link to my profile here for people wanting to buy seeds from me. I love the market not just for extra money but for all the diverse people I get to meet. I really do love interacting with the customers.

I got my B.A. in Biology with a minor in Physics from IUS in 1989. Then I went to the University of Kentucky for my M.S. in Entomology and graduated in 1992. I've been working for the state of Indiana since May of 1993 and have lived in Indianapolis since then. I spent 14 years with the Dept. of Health working in Food Microbiology and have been with the Dept. of Environmental Management working in Air Quality since April of 2007.

It's hard to come up with just one memory. I was at Southwestern from Kindergarten through Senior year. I remember my first kiss in second grade (not going to name anyone but she did not end up graduating with us), the 1974 tornado, becoming friends with Jay, Scott, Jeff, and Jim around fourth grade, the bomb threats when we would get to stay outside almost all day, Mr. White making history fun in Junior High, the Eighth grade dance and Julie Thornton, waiting in line in the cold with Lisalynn freezing our butts off for the Turkey Shoot at Madison one year--and then Southwestern lost pretty badly, finally--after three tries getting my driver's license and all the freedom that gave me, the proms, senior trip, and finally graduation. That's just a synopsis. I really enjoyed my time at Southwestern and am looking forward to seeing as many people as possible.

Most people that I know now have a really hard time believing that I could have been voted shiest in the class. In college and grad school I got a pretty good repuation as an accomplished public speaker. I placed second two times in the American Registry of Professional Entomologists student paper competition (really wished I'd won one of those but it was close). Several times I've spoken in front of several hundred people as well--mainly at the Kentucky Turfgrass Council meetings.
I also was the supervisor of the Consumer Health Laboratory for the Indiana State Department of Health for several years. This lab is responsible for testing food and dairy samples in the state of Indiana. I was also one of the point people for bioterrorism preparedness for Indiana in regards to food safety. Anyway I led quite a few workshops, did a lot of public speaking for the Department of Health, and even made it on TV a few times (but the PR department never let me say anything I just demonstrated our testing methods). I left that job a few years ago due to spending way to many weekends working and not getting paid for it and deciding I needed to spend more time with my family. Anyway I'm no longer the quiet, timid person I was and am now fairly outspoken and probably talk too much now.

Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Louisiana, Colorado, Arizona, California, Nevada, Maryland, and I should include Washington D.C.

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