James was born and raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. He received a degree in Conservation Biology from the College of Santa Fe and a Masters in Environmental Studies at Antioch University New England. Over the last three years James has worked in Sierra Leone training honey hunters in the art of beekeeping and chasing the elusive tree pangolin. James is an amateur myrmecologist and an avid handball player. He recently finished "The Fertile Hammock", a series of 48 drawings that he has worked on for the last seven years.

James is very excited for his first year with the incredibly inspiring community of Lyons.