(FORTUNE Magazine) – WHEN PEOPLE ASK ME WHAT I DO, I TELL THEM I'M just following my passions. That doesn't necessarily explain how I went from being a Navy surgeon in Desert Storm to starting a surfboard company to filming tornadoes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions in progress, but it's a start. Right now, I'm spending my days up the coast from home [San Diego] at Mount St. Helens, getting footage of the recent eruption to add to the IMAX movie of the 1980 blow-up. And every year I spend two months chasing tornadoes through eight states. We can get really close in our TIV--tornado intercept vehicle. The bulletproof glass, quarter-inch tank-grade steel, and racecar seats keep us pretty safe, but they can't kill the adrenaline rush of watching a giant tornado barreling toward you from 250 yards away. It's awesome. And then there's Halloween, which I love so much that I went all the way to Kenya with my cousin to make a horror movie that'll premiere early next year. So, yes, unconventional is probably an understatement for my life, but you can't beat the high. -- Interview by Nadira A. Hira