I have been interested in the natural world for as long as I can remember. My first specialization was birds: I took birding seriously (in a low budget way) for 20 years, culminating in stints on the records committees of two states. However, for the last 20 years I have been increasingly drawn to insects: initially butterflies, and then their predators (dragonflies, hunting wasps, etc.). But my current greatest interest is to glimpse how entire ecological systems fit together: geology, land use, plants, insects and everything else. It is obviously more than I will ever comprehend, but a person needs goals.