I was born in 1960 in Indiana and grew up on a medium-sized farm. I have loved all life sciences since I was very young. However, in the '70's, knowing anything about insects made you weird. So when I began winning 4-H/FFA insect judging contests, and it was announced over the speakers at my school, kids began teasing me. That was a large part of why I chose to become an entomologist. When someone is teasing you, and they are teasing you about a good thing, you can either be embarrassed or you can embrace it. I began writing papers on insects and became more and more interested in them. I majored in Entomology at Purdue University and for two years, as an undergrad, I worked for a professor in Biological Control of Insects. We were studying controlling Mexican Bean Beetles with tiny parasitic Braconid wasps. I was the first to find the Braconid wasp eggs inside the beetle larvae.

I have enjoyed trying many different jobs since college but when my children were in grade school, I was asked to speak to the 5th graders about insects. That began a very long career as The Bug Lady for all the schools in our county. I also created a few other presentations - shells, spiders, skulls, rocks, weather, etc. The insect presentation was always the most loved as I have collected a very large amount of specimens from all around the world - enough to cover eleven 10-foot tables. The presentation includes an hour-long PowerPoint interactive talk followed by viewing time.

I am mostly retired from presentations and I have become very interested in macro photography. I photographed and documented all the weeds in my yard. Their flowers are so tiny and so intricate and beautiful. Then I happened across some springtails in 2015 and, with the help of Frans Janssens and his website Checklist Collembola, I have become enthralled with these tiny animals. I have discovered 7 new species and 3 forms of species. I am an amateur photographer but I really enjoy trying to capture these adorable little creatures!