I’m excited to be in this class and to meet all of you! I’m a long-time plant lover and bird lover, and since it’s been a long time since I’ve taken plant taxonomy as part of my wildlife degree (finished in 1981… so a long time!), I took UAF Plant Systematics last semester. That was a really good class- I highly recommend it. That class was good for re-awakening my systematics and plant keying. For all these years, I’ve basically learned the natural history of my areas, not IDing plants with keys but just by recognition. I really want to up my game and be able to recognize families and ID plants by keys, etc. Last spring we didn’t have blooming flowers here in Alaska, so I’m so excited to explore all the plants as they come into bloom and learn parts, etc.
I’m an oldster at 65 and my path has been looping and branching… and sometimes I’ve wandered absolutely lost as to where to go with my career. I’m trying to gain acceptance that I need to try to do meaningful things and make my own path. I have 4 grown sons, two of which have attended UAF. Knowing I wanted to have kids, I decided to get a teaching certificate in Biology. I haven’t actually taught, moving around so much with my then husband’s job as a state park ranger, moving up. I actually worked for AK State Parks in the 80s with teens at the Twin Bears Camp with a residential program with kids for all over Alaska, building trails and doing other park work (ACC program). This is partly what got me interested in teaching. Later, in 2011, I decided to get my degree and license in cousneling, which I have now. I worked in this for 8 years and got tired of telehealth during the pandemic and quit. I’m now trying to figure out what to do again!
My youngest got his BS and MS at UAF in geophysics and is now at Cornell for his PhD, but is actually in Fairbanks for the summer working remotely. Though he often looks at satellite data, he loves the small stuff like moss and slime molds. He’s got a girlfriend who is getting a masters in Botany (I think). I have so many favorite plants but my son who is in Fairbanks now just took these photos…one of my favorite plants, such a delight to find- the Sundew. When my kids were growing up we called them sun dudes. I believe this one is Drosera rotundifolia.
Photos by Rowan Eagle Biessel
my macro…
my relic press from the 80s…. happy to reawaken. The small one is a small one I got to use with kids.
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