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Two scientists, with a shared love of knowledge and learning, and missed connections re-connected. Dave and Monica first crossed paths at the Society for Neuroscience conference in Chicago in October 2024. Nick, Dave’s grad school friend and, separately, one of Monica’s friends from Columbia, introduced them at a pizza party. They hit it off in Chicago, but weren’t looking to date long-distance at first. Life went on separately for a while, until Dave texted Monica to reconnect on New Year’s Eve. Monica visited Dave in Philadelphia in March 2025 for their first proper date, and after Dave visited Monica in Atlanta in May, they decided to begin building a life together, even if at a distance to start.

When Monica moved to San Diego for a new faculty position, Dave knew exactly where he wanted to end up too, and over the following year they crossed the country together again and again, meeting each other’s families, sharing museums and mountains, falling more in love with every trip. On January 10th, 2026, late at night in New York, in front of one of the lions of the library at Bryant Park, Dave got down on one knee. Monica, a former Jeopardy champion, could have answered in the form of a question, “Who is the person making me cry?”, but she just laughed, said yes, and cried a little anyway. They wandered through the light rain to Times Square to celebrate. Months later, they did their engagement photos at the San Diego Public Library and decided the wedding would happen at the Natural History Museum in San Diego, fitting for two people who keep finding love in learning, in museums, presidential libraries, science conferences, and every new place that teaches them something. Now they’re ready to share that love with everyone who has shaped their lives along the way.