Tom Pratum is a native Whatcom County resident, having arrived at St Josephs Hospital, and having attended Lowell, Fairhaven, and Sehome High Schools. He later obtained a PhD in Physical Chemistry at UC-Berkeley and worked as a research scientist at UW for 15 years. In 2000 he returned and now lives just outside the city limits with his wife Peggy and their two cats and two dogs. He has been a board member of North Cascades Audubon since 2001, and has taught part time in the WWU Chemistry Department since 2004.