Amateur naturalist and museum educator. Ex-laboratory researcher/PhD student/NSF graduate research fellow in biology.

I'm trying to record any organisms I see, but I have a bias towards plants and fungi because they hold still.

I grew up in occupied Meskwaki, Wyandot, and Anishinaabeg (including Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi) lands in the Huron River/Giwitatigweiasibi and broader Great Lakes watershed. Childhood activities included bringing home animal bones, exploring the local oak-hickory forest, and going on big garlic mustard pulls.

As an adult I obtained a biology degree and researched the impact of a common herbicide on insect reproductive behavior and physiology. I went on to pursue a failed PhD with a focus on ecotoxicology and environmental contaminants, behavior, development, neurotransmitters, and monoaminergic systems especially serotonin. I'm a bench scientist by training but being around a bunch of ornithologists, botanists, and entomologists does tend to rub off, so I've picked up more than the average knowledge about both Midwest and Colorado organisms, but far far less than an actual field biologist or dedicated naturalist.

I currently live in occupied Arapaho, Cheyenne and Ute land, in the South Platte/Niinéniiniicíihéhe River watershed.

I'm hoping to improve my identification skills, learn about the natural world, and share what little knowledge I have with others!

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