I'm originally from Harrisburg, PA and went to college in Pittsburgh. Wife, Donna, is from Towanda, Bradford County, PA. We spent many decades camping in PA, mostly north-central from Pine Creek Gorge to Wysox. Ives Run at Tioga-Hammond Lakes was a favorite and only 2 hours from home. We also stayed with relatives at Lake Ondawa near Big Pond, Bradford Co. Before my mother passed away we camped in south-central PA from Winfield to Carlisle and York and east to the Lancaster area. Gifford Pinchot SP was a favorite. When traveling to the Delmarva, we'd camp at Lackawanna SP or Quaker Woods Campground (off I-476 south of Allentown). We've also camped at Green Lane Park (Montgomery County) when visiting relatives, and, in 2004, we overlapped a Periodical Cicada outbreak there.

We're both long retired, but health issues keep us close to home now. (My head would love to be in the PA Wilds, but our bodies just aren't cooperating...) Fortunately I have extensive archives of photos. Over a span of 50+ years, and all our trips around this country and Canada, I shot roughly 80-90,000 color slides and 100,000 digital images covering all aspects of natural history and geology. We now "travel" vicariously through my images.

My interest in plants likely started with my mother's interest in landscape horticulture around the new house that my father built in the early 50's. Her brother had studied botany in college and then owned a landscape nursey where I worked my first summer home from college. It was my first real job and I loved it. (I still have his "Botany" text book which I inherited.)

Ca. 1970 I joined the Botany section of the Rochester Academy of Sciences and met a number of knowledgeable people, including college professors, active in the Bergen Swamp Preservation Society (BSPS). About that time I also became an assistant scout master responsible for the outdoor merit badges including Botany and Nature. I would take small groups of scouts to Zurich Bog, owned by the BSPS, and repair the corduroyed trail through a mature hemlock-hardwood forest to the main bog.

I do not have a personal website as such, but use sites like 500px, ViewBug, flickr, etc. Lately, I've been adding my older botany slides to ViewBug under the username northeastnaturalist.