<p>My two great passions in life are art and the natural environment. I think my love of nature was fostered by growing up on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. As a kid, I’d collect shells along the palm dotted beach at Boqueron, and watch the fishermen haul in their nets. Family trips to El Yunque rainforest were a great influence. It was an extraordinary sensory experience – the roar of waterfalls, the pungent aroma of tropical vegetation, and the singing of colorful birds in the canopy. I was always sketching what I saw.</p>In my previous job at a wildlife rehab center in South Florida, I taught teenage and adult volunteers how to care for native mammals, reptiles, and birds. I currently live in North Carolina, and hope to teach the next generation about our natural world, and inspire in them a desire to protect it.