: About Me

I am slated to start graduate studies at East Carolina University this fall, studying biodiversity. I have studied tropical rainforests under academic guidance in Costa Rica and Venezuela; have published brief peer-reviewed articles on Araceae in Lanyu (Taiwan) and Hawaii; and visited rainforests in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Micronesia. My primary interest, though, remains South America.

My passion is ...

Life...in all its multifarious forms

I know too much about ...

So-called "family values"

My parents always told me ...

No one will take care of you once you leave this house.

My childhood ambition ...

To be a scientist

My favorite memory ...

Glory days in Costa Rica

Why I write ...

It has to come out somehow!

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

If I tell you today, it will be different tomorrow.

My first job ...

groundskeeping and maintenance, Mason County Fairgrounds

My best moment ...

Shifting the balance of power, never to be spanked again.

My inspiration ...

the book, _The Wonders of Life on Earth_

Sciences > Botany How elaborate flowers are used to attract pollinators

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Nature is like the human world: sex is a powerful drive.  Every flower, no matter how simple or elaborate, has one purpose: reproduction.  Unlike spore-bearing plants (mosses, ferns), flowering plants must recombine their genes and produce offspring different from the parents.  For most plants, a simple flower will do: just show some bright colors to get the attention of a passing bee or hummingbird, and offer some kind of reward in return.  Why then are there some very complex flowers? For one thing, producing nectar costs the plant energy.  If it can get away wit...

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