Kiel received his BA in geology, with a minor in philosophy, from UC Santa Barbara. He also holds an MA in philosophy from San Francisco State University. He is most interested in philosophy of mind and epistemology, especially as they relate to representation and perception, but is additionally interested in philosophy of science and philosophy of language, especially as they relate to all the former. Besides philosophy, Kiel enjoys billiards and bars that have billiards, alliterative poetry, table tennis, the music of Pavement et al., and the outdoors.