Ensign James Forrest

 Jim Forrest was born in a mining town in Africa. He is of mixed heritage, and it shows in his odd complexion. Both his parents worked as asteroid miners, his father being a labor foreman, Jim was instilled with a vigorous work-ethic. His father pushed him to be better than himself and his mother, and to seek a better education.

Jim spent the first few years of his secondary education attending a mining school run by his father’s company that afforded him the opportunity to intern for months at a time at several  locations on earth, other planetary bodies in the Solar System, and even a limited duty on asteroids. After two years of learning, travelling, and climbing any mountain he could find as a hobby Jim was expected to follow in his father’s foot-steps and dedicate his life to mining; he had other plans.

His application to Starfleet Academy was accepted when he was 21, after only a year of working the asteroid mines. In the federation the conditions aren’t bad, but they weren’t what he wanted…what his father wanted.

He stuck to the field though, majoring in Geological Engineering and Xeno-Geology with a minor in Hydro-dynamics. The day he was given a commission was the happiest day of his parents life. When time game to assign a Xeno-Geologist to the first true deep-space exploration mission to happen since the myriad of wars began, the fleet found itself short staffed unless they wanted a civilian….giving Mr. Forrest the beneficial position of being one of the only officers with real-world experience that wasn’t close to retirement. For that reason he was assigned the USS Phoenix as head of the Geo-Physical department.

A few years older than most ensigns, Jim works twice as hard to prove himself worthy of the assignment and to make his parents proud. He is old-fashioned in that he believes strongly in his family name and that what he does impacts it greatly; He is determined not to bring it shame.