When I walk into the woods, I don’t see trees, moss and ferns, I see Ostrya virginiana, Sphagnum girgensohnii and Adiantum pedatum. If you take the time to learn the species that surround you every day, you discover a hidden world. The more time you spend observing nature you begin to understand how complex and delicate the relationships between every species are. If you observe the flower of a spring beauty for long enough, you will likely see a small bee, called Andrena erigeniae. This bee only pollinates spring beauties and they rely on each other to survive. The closer you look, the more of these relationships you see, and you begin to understand how much every species depends on the other species around it to survive.
What most people see as a “moss” is any one of 12,000 moss species worldwide. A “moth” is one of 160,000 moth species worldwide. Scientists think there are 8.7 million species of plants and animals in existence. But dozens of species go extinct every day. It is my goal to observe as many as possible before it is too late. I have seen almost 6000 species so far, and I find new species whenever I can. Therefore, I spend time in nature every day, and as much as possible, my days revolve around learning about life on earth.
By being curious about nature and learning about the species that surround me, I have learned that all species, including humans, are interconnected and rely on each other to survive. Many people don’t even consider that as humans we are part of nature and it is an important part of our survival. Many of my small contributions to science have been noticed by scientists and have ended up being cited in research papers. This has shown me that what I love doing has the potential to change the world. If we don't understand nature, we won't know how to protect it, and if we don’t protect it we will be harming ourselves.