Mark Ryherd is a biont who graduated from The University of Iowa with a B.S. in Microbiology and is currently employed as a flow cytometrist. He became a fan of SF in middle school after watching old Doctor Who and Red Dwarf episodes. While still enjoying the softer side of SF he eventually worked his was up the “Mohs Scale of SF Hardness” to stumble across Orion’s Arm. He became a contributor to the OAUP to improve his creative writing skills and to discuss tropes used is SF. His interest include history (especially the Hellenistic Period), paleontology, linguistics, gaming (board, card, and video), and cooking.