Steve Metzger was raised in rural New York State where one of his earliest memories was of listening to NASA's first orbital mission of Mercury astronaut John Glenn. Always tinkering with electronics, model rockets and photography, Steve started a photo lab business to pay for his hobbies. He then pursued geology, theate, marketingr and filmmaking at St. Lawrence University, earning a B.S. in Geology & Geography in 1978 to become an oil-drilling mud logger in North Dakota and Montana. During most of the 1980s, Metzger taught High School science, art and literature, plus coaching varsity alpine racing and lacrosse. He shifted his focus to research by earning a M.A. in Geological Sciences at the State University of New York-Buffalo in 1994 and a PH.D. in Planetary Geology at the University of Nevada, Reno, in 1999. Early in the doctoral program, Metzger observed dust devils on the Nevada Test Site but was frustrated by the lack of background literature on how they operated. So, he developed an international field research program which continues today into these bizarre dust columns to determine how much dust is pumped into the atmosphere from arid regions. Metzger has conducted dust devil research in Chile and Peru, in addition to numerous projects across the desert southwestern USA. He also consults for archeology clients in Nevada, doing climate reconstructions of excavation sites. As a strong believer in STEM/STEAM education and public outreach, he avidly shares the excitement of scientific exploration through public workshops and lectures, and by part-time teaching in local Nevada public schools and University of Nevada-Reno. His current focus is now on enhancing and expanding the Nevada Space Center housed in Reno�s National Automobile Museum.