He grew up in Faribault, Minnesota and later attended college at the University of Minnesota where he graduated (honors; Summa Cum Laude 2009) with dual bachelor’s degrees in Physiology and Art. After, John earned his Ph.D. in Entomology at the University of Minnesota under Dr. Ann Fallon then moved on to a postdoctoral fellowship under Dr. Mark Hochstrasser at Yale University’s department of molecular biophysics and biochemistry. John is currently an assistant professor at Auburn University in the department of entomology and plant pathology.