I knew from that early age that I wanted to be a naturalist – spending my time outdoors learning about the natural world. My journey to that goal, however, has been neither direct nor logical.
Born and raised in a small town in eastern Long Island, New York, I grew up playing on the long sandy beaches and in the dunes, bays, saltmarshes, freshwater ponds and scrub oak / pine forests that surrounded my town. My free time was spent learning about the plants and animals that inhabited these special places.
While I dreamed of going to school to learn to be a naturalist, those in the know recommended that I go to college and get a degree in a “useful field.” For someone who lived in a beach town – rather than vacationed there – that was probably good advice.
Although I was not officially studying to be a naturalist, I was determined to learn about the natural world in other ways. As an undergraduate, I studied chemistry, biology and as much mathematics and physics as my schedule would allow.
As a graduate student I delved into biochemistry and molecular biology. I earned my doctorate in chemistry investigating the role of trace metals in biological systems.
I was on the verge of a second career in the environmental sciences, when a near fatal accident led me to medical school. As a practicing physician, I cared for the young and the old. When not tending to patients, my academic interest lay at the intersection of the environment and human health.
Even though I was successful on many fronts, something was missing. It was time to do what I had always wanted to do – become a naturalist. So, I resigned my clinical and administrative positions and became a "card-carrying" naturalist, receiving my Master Naturalist Certificate from Cornell University’s Conservation Education and Research Program. More recently, I became a Plant Conservation Volunteer through the New England Plant Conservation Program.
Five decades have passed. I am standing on the banks a shallow brook. A slight but steady stream of water gurgles over the smooth rocks and bubbles past a fallen snag. The warm sunlight filters through the leaves that are showing the first hints of fall. A pair of raucous bluejays protests our being in their backyard. A swarm of morning mosquitoes is looking for breakfast.
We pour the contents of our kicknet into an old, rectangular, white enamel basin. Caddis and stonefly larvae flee into the shade of an aging leaf. An inch long crayfish, with both pinchers drawn, backs into a corner. I reach down and scoop up a sculpin. It settles in the cool fresh water in the cup of my fifty-six year-old hand. I run a finger down its soft, chubby body. Its scales feel like smooth wet leather. Its two dark black eyes gaze up at me as its mouth and gills open and close in a slow easy rhythm.
Each day, I now look forward to spending time outdoors exploring the natural world – learning about geology and soils, trees and plants, and all sorts of wildlife. I aspire to record what I find with camera, pen and paintbrush. I seek opportunities to learn how to learn about and how to teach about the natural world. And, I look forward to sharing what I find with others.
