Joe grew up in New Jersey, studied biology at Drew University, and spent his early career cleaning up hazardous waste before moving to Oregon to study climate change. A serendipitous career change to computer security and software development has seen him design and analyze large-scale data sets, develop software, and fight cybercrime with McAfee, Tripwire, and Symantec.

Joe and his wife, Vicky, live near Mt. Tabor. He has been a full-time pedestrian since 2015 and can often be seen biking, golfing, and enjoying Portland's vibrant food and beer scene.