Trained as a stream ecologist, I spent most of my career at the National Science Foundation, working as a program officer and later as an executive, helping to create funding opportunities for biodiversity studies and coupled natural/human systems research. I was the Director of the Division of Environmental Biology when I retired at the end of 2014. I am on a first name basis with a variety of aquatic invertebrates, various birds, wildflowers, and my latest fascination: fungi. We have a small cabin in Culpeper County, where we have established an American chestnut tree breeding orchard under the auspices of the American Chestnut Foundation. We also have a small pond there, where we are FrogWatch volunteers. I am a certified Master Naturalist, ARMN spring 2014 class. I like learning what things are, what they do for a living, and especially what their symbiotic arrangements might be.