I grew up in nature and with a family who supported me in my love of the outside. Bird watching became a passion as a teenager, and, as everyone knows, it's a slippery slope from there into tree identification, native plant gardening, caterpillar rearing, invasive plant removal workdays, etc. As an Arlington Regional Master Naturalist and Northern Virginia Conservation Advocate for Nature Forward (previously Audubon Naturalist Society), I've gotten the chance to further explore my love of our world. While traveling is also a passion, there's nothing like immersing ones self in the local flora and fauna you know so well.