I'm an amateur photographer with a passion for (nearly!) all plants. Beginning in 2005, my husband Neil and I have been on a quest to find and photograph all of the native orchids of North Carolina. I strive to creatively capture and portray the striking beauty of these plants in my photographs. For some orchids, like the showy lady's slipper, the job is easy. For other orchids, such as the tiny heart-leaved twayblade, beauty is not always immediately apparent, but must be drawn out.

Many of my photographs are taken with off-camera lighting (or shading) and would be nearly (sometimes entirely!) impossible to take without the steadfast help of my husband, Neil. Most of what I have learned about photography is through experimentation and observation, of both my own and other's photos.

Professionally, I am a postdoctoral researcher (or will be, starting January 2013!) at UNC-Chapel Hill with expertise in evolution, genetics, and bioinformatics. I conducted my dissertation research at Duke University, and studied the effects of polyploidization on evolution in the genus Mimulus (yellow monkeyflowers).