I'm in the lucky position of being the interpreter (Freeman Tilden style! Or, 'naturalist', for more familiar wording) at Thousand Hills State Park in Adair County, Missouri! I've been a naturalist since I was four years old, and picked up a large black rat snake while mushroom hunting - after my father explicitly told me not to - and, upon seeing the chagrin on his face, said, "It's more scared of you than you are of it!" After doing many nature programs at local schools and libraries, doing seasonal work for the park, and getting a degree in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, I just get to be 'The Snake Lady' professionally!

My camera and I are nigh inseparable, I'm insatiably curious, and one of my greatest joys in life is seeing a talk or program I give spark that curiosity in others. It's an added gift when they reflect their own curiosity back on me - my favorite questions are the ones I don't know the answers to!

"Through interpretation, understanding; through understanding, appreciation; through appreciation, protection."
-Freeman Tilden