If you had asked me years ago if I thought I would grow up and get a Phd I would have said: no way. Sure I did OK in school but I was never a stand out student. Except in French and maybe English/writing. Those were the subjects that came easily to me and I loved. I struggled in math and science all through high school and in college where I started out on the biology major path and ended up doing environmental studies which was a better choice for me. I have 3 brothers who excel in stem subjects--one went on to a career in math, one in physics and one is going rogue in music but he is smart in everything.
I knew from an early age that I had a deep connection with nature and I wanted to grow up and do something to protect it. Figuring out the best way to do that has been a lifelong journey. I hope I have made some small difference so far but it has been and continues to be a windy road. I decided at some point that even though science and math didn't come easily to me that I knew that I wanted to work in some way to protect and study nature and so I would just do my best in calculus and chemistry and barely scraped by. I saw a talk on you tube by one of my idols EO Wilson talk about kids that are interested in natural history but are dissuaded from being biologists because they don't do well in math and he said stick with it, we need you. So I did. He is one of the greatest biologists to live so I thought, he must be right. In the end I know I could have had a career in conservation without a Phd or even a bachelors in biology--there are many different ways to accomplish this goal. But I have so enjoyed being able to be outside, observing creatures that fascinate me and being in awe of life on our planet. That has always been what attracted me to ecology when I first realized what it was as a freshman in college and got the opportunity to work for a female professor and post doc who really encouraged me (13 years later they remain the only females I have had the chance to work under, though I've worked with many female colleagues and been a mentor to many young women). It has been an interesting journey filled with twists and turns but I look back and am grateful for the great mentors I have had and even the ones I didn't appreciate at the time who I still gleaned little bits of wisdom from. The road is unsure for me for the future in this field, but for now I can look back and be so grateful for the deserts, prairies, mountains, oceans, streams, forests and all the other beautiful places I've had the pleasure to experience because of my studies. I will post again about some of the other parts of my path to achieving what may seem a daunting task that only the uber intelligent can achieve (spoiler alert: you don't need to be uber intelligent)
2007. My 1st job and experience in field ecology. Here I was keeping track of 'anthesis', the release of pollen by a plant's anthers. Pymatuning Lab of Ecology during my time at Pitt.
2007. Observing arrays of wild strawberry at Pymatuning Lab, probably counting flowers. Another thing you learn as a biologist: there will be a LOT of counting.
2012. Bend, OR. On the road trip from Oregon where I worked for the Bureau of Land Management to Akron Ohio where I was going to start my Masters degree.
2015. Playa Norte, Costa Rica. This was the beach I walked hundreds of miles on as a sea turtle intern with a research station in a remote part of Costa Rica, it takes about 2 days to get there by bus and several boats.
1990. Sydney Australia. My family lived here for a couple of years while my dad was working for the Foreign Service. I was extremely blessed to grow up in a family that never restricted me as a girl into being a little princess and basically let me do anything my brothers did.