Abbott grew up on the South Side of Chicago before moving to the East coast for college. While in college, he served as a volunteer Firefighter / EMT for two fire companies, an experience which became the basis for his book Waiting for a Call. After receiving his B.A. from Swarthmore College in 2010, Abbott lived alone in the woods for several years and wrote. He left the woods to attend graduate school in sociology at Yale University and is currently a Ph.D. candidate. For information about his current research, please visit the research page.