I'm a nature nerd from way back. My parents used to take me on month-long camping trips to national parks every summer when I was a kid. I grew up on a farm where gardening, picking wild raspberries, and "taming kittens" while donning leather gloves were random past-times, along with flashing fireflies with flashlights and watching the northern lights in the winter.

I have a BS in Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with minors in Conservation Biology and Captive Wildlife. I will never forget the way Schmeekle Reserve comes to life in early spring, when patches of snow have yet to melt and spring peepers speak loudly from the earth.

I have a raging passion for Environmental Education and am inspired by getting your hands in some dirt. I am currently a Biology and Environmental Systems teacher for Dallas ISD but am working on returning to Environmental Education.

My particular forms of geekery are currently insects (beetles especially, though cicadas and stick insects are pretty awesome, too... along with all of the others), birds and always plants.