As a teenager, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. But I did know what I wanted to study.

I lived in the Washington, D.C., suburbs until I was 13. So it was a shock to move to rural upstate New York. But soon the woods and lakes and farms won me over. I attended the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry so I could get my fill of natural sciences, particularly botany and ecology. There, I also developed a strong environmental ethic that lead to a lifelong dedication to protecting the natural systems upon which we all depend.

While I enjoyed all the science, I realized that research alone wasn’t enough to save the planet. I knew that information is the key to the realm, but we already had a lot of science that we weren’t using very effectively to clean up the planet. So midway through college I took up a minor in communications, figuring that would be a good way to recruit others to the cause.

I went on to spend the bulk of my career as an agricultural journalist, editing a magazine that helped farmers find ways to use fewer pesticides and take better care of their soil. When the Internet came along, I taught myself how to use that medium and ended up working in the Department of Horticulture at Cornell University. There I continue to help get the results of scientific studies into the hands of farmers, gardeners and others so that they can work toward more environmentally sound practices, mostly through these websites.

All along the way, I’ve loved plants and writing. And I continue those interests in my spare time by gardening and blogging. These interests also come together in efforts like the NSDL Flower Bulb Science Web Seminar.