Author
As a child, my favorite educator was the outdoors. I used to swim or water ski in pristine lakes, go fishing and hiking along beautiful mountain streams, and camp all across the western United States. Finding safe areas to carry out such activities is becoming increasingly difficult as our waterways become polluted and overfished. We have all encountered restrictions on fishing and swimming. I wonder, will our children be able to enjoy the kind of fun I did as a child?
I started this blog because I have a passion for the environment, and especially for stream water ecology. I have a B.S. in biology and currently work in the embryology department at the Carnegie Institution for Science. This spring (2010) I hope to transition to teaching science to 5th-12th graders as part of an outreach education program that Carnegie runs called BioEYES. In addition I work as an animal caretaker (zebrafish), grant writer, and graphic and web designer.
I also do work for federal, state, and local environmental and research organizations, including the Jones Falls Watershed Association, the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy, the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (West Nile Virus research with eastern screech owls), and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
I am an affiliate with the Chesapeake Watershed Network and The Wildlife Society.
I have banded birds on the Chesapeake Bay, wrangled snakes on the Eastern Shore, bicycled across the United States and Ontario, and designed for local riverkeepers (among other clients). I moved from California to Baltimore City in 1993.
Valerie Butler