I grew up in NZ hoping to be a naturalist - then an entomologist or maybe herpetologist but then swerved aged 18, went into literary studies - moved to England to study - then to Canada. Now I am a Professor of Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto: I specialize in the archaeology and history of the premodern book - old manuscripts! They have lots of creatures in them actually, and some of my most recent work is on new scientific approaches - DNA extraction, proteins, microbiome, chemical analysis.

Anyway I came back to my love of amateur naturalism as a hobby after I had my kids (now all school age): we spend the summers exploring a forest and lakeshore in Kawarthas in Ontario and in the winter we go back to NZ for a month. I also travel a lot with work, and enjoy taking breaks from meetings m in libraries and conservation labs to see local flora and fauna. So - lots of nature lots of the time and I am thrilled to find this group to share and learn with!

These days my interests are in slime moulds, fungi, salamanders and newts, frogs and toads, snakes, turtles, insects, spiders, other invertebrates, lichen, moss, wildflowers, and lizards -
in that order - I love a tide pool if I can get to one, and I’ll pay attention to mammals, birds, and plants etc if not busy with the rest! I also love native plant gardening.