What started as a way to get a bit more exercise and fresh air on my lunch break turned into a passion. I'm a regular in forest preserves in NE Illinois, plus I have a (growing) collection of native plants at home, where I've seen my landscape go from mostly just crickets and toads to hundreds of insects—including some vulnerable and endangered.

I've always had a particular interest in insects; I did entomology projects in 4-H as a kid.

Some observations are found by my kids—they find the aquatic critters as well as some of the insects in our yard.