Ed is a transplant from Southern California. His search and rescue volunteer "career" service began as a K9 handler in 1991 as a member of the San Diego County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team and the California Rescue Rescue Dog Association (CARDA).

In 1993, he and his first search dog, Skylar, were accepted as an Urban Disaster K9 search team with FEMA's San Diego USAR Task Force (CA-TF-8) and responded to the 1994 L.A. earthquake in Northridge.

After moving to Chico and joining the Team, Ed continued his search dog training and in 2000 began working his second search dog, Bridger (shown above). His search dogs were variously certified in Wilderness Area Search, Water, Cadaver, and Firearms Detection. Ed expanded his S&R expertise into rescue and air operations, qualifying with the Team as a Rope Rescue Tech, Swiftwater Rescue Tech, Helo/Aquatic Rescue Tech, and Helo Crew Chief.

Ed has been a member of the Team since December 1994. He was appointed Team Captain by Sheriff Perry Reniff in February 2009. Over the years, Ed has also served as the team's Membership Officer, team Secretary, and the team's Critical Incident Stress Debriefing representative.