Joined: Jul 9, 2016 Last Active: Oct 12, 2024 iNaturalist
Hey iNaturalists!
I'm a naturalist living in Loveland, Colorado. I grew up in Southern California where I learned to appreciate nature by exploring the live oak foothills and chaparral near my home. Insects were my first interest followed by plants, herps, and, later, birds. While living in Arizona, several birders including Caleb Strand and Tommy DeBardeleben taught me much of what I know about North American birds. Here in Colorado, birders Nick Komar and David Tonnessen invested in me and introduced me to the awesome species and habitats that are found here.
Currently, I'm on an exciting quest to photographically document the biodiversity of Larimer County, Colorado. To make this goal more feasible, I will be working on only a few taxonomic groups at a time. In 2024, I'm wrapping up fish (which I started in 2023) and am starting on herps and mammals. Once I've photographed 75% of the expected species within these groups, I will target other groups of species. My next focus will probably be plants and insects.
I'm married and I have a little boy. I currently work in the grocery industry and am wrapping up my Bachelors Degree in Secondary Biology Education online through Western Governors University. I am hoping to begin teaching high school biology in 2025.
My camera gear: a Nikon D500 DSLR body for all photography, a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR Lens for birds, mammals, herps, butterflies, and odes, a Venus Optics Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2X Ultra Macro APO Lens for invertebrates, plants, fungi, and herps, and my iPhone 5s mainly for fishes, plants, and incidental observations.
My eBird profile: https://ebird.org/profile/NTQ1MDM3/US