Dean Firth

Joined: Feb 1, 2022 Last Active: Oct 5, 2024

Hello, and thank you for your interest.

I work from home doing IT as a profession, but I am an amateur naturalist in my free time. I also volunteer at First Landing State Park regularly and Participate as a Baylab Docent. There, I get to tell people way to much information about horseshoe (scorpions) crabs, mummichogs, and periwinkle snails.

Pattern recognition, attention to detail, and reading comprehension are a few of my strengths. I am constantly reading papers and field guides to learn more about which ever taxa is sparking my interest at the time. I retain information best with the Feynman method of learning. My goal is to learn as much as possible about the unique biodiversity found in the Tidewater Region to then share this knowledge through state extension programs. This ecosystem is one of a kind around the world.

I specialize in the identification of of spiders in the families Araneidae, Tetragnaidae, and Uloboridae. I also like to ID Trifoliae in the region. I perform most of my Identifications in the Tidewater area as I continue to increase my knowledge about the local taxa. My favorite creatures all have too many legs and/or eyes.

Working from home allows me to spend spend lots of time in my native garden. A lot of my observations come from there.

I will gladly elaborate on any identification if asked.

Map of ID's made.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/map?ident_user_id=mecynogea_palustris#5/34.124/-67.002

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