-Plant lover perpetually looking down at the ground to find all the weird little forbs and orchids and mosses and fungi that are too often missed, yet are so fascinating.

-I currently enjoy exploring the Southeastern US in car and tent (based out of northern Virginia), but the arid Western US and West Coast will always have my heart.

-Most knowledgeable about orchids (among US orchids, especially love Neottia and Malaxis) but also love many other plants, such as those in my favorite taxa. Increasingly studying and paying attention to bryophytes and lichens.

-Not really an expert in plant identification, as I focus more on learning about ecology and biogeography than species identification [insert rant about taxonomic inflation and the partly socially constructed nature of taxonomy, i.e. that species don't really exist...]

-One of my current jobs is in a lab studying evolution in the goldenrod gall fly system (Eurosta solidaginis galls on Solidago spp. with parasitoids such as Eurytoma spp. wasps) so now observing and identifying those a bit more- if you know of good locations with a lot of Eurosta galls or want to help collect, please let me know!

*** PSA for whom it may concern- it is okay to go into nature and not take hundreds of photos and upload every single living thing to iNaturalist. Observing, exploring, and appreciating nature is not a contest or goal. Ok, snarkiness over, thank you :) ***

-You can also find me stacking photos of tiny creatures on Flickr as Swillig Photo (Simon Willig)-https://www.flickr.com/photos/186031494@N08/

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