First Encounters:My First Encounter with a Monarch

摘要

I grew up in Edmonton, Canada, at the edge of the Boreal forest, and spent alot of time outdoors at the family cottage. Like most kids, I was fascinated with insects, and like many of you, I never outgrew that interest. I owe alot to my mother who, instead of getting grossed out when I brought bugs to show her, encouraged me to look at them with her. By the time I was four, she had sewn me a butterfly net (Fig. 1), and my father had built me some wooden specimen boxes. I always knew what I wanted todo when I grew up. Now as an adult I'm living the dream, working as a biologist with the federal government in Edmonton. I get paid to identify forest insects, manage a collection, and carry out biodiversity work with beetles and moths. I continue to collect insects, focussing primarily on micromoths. I've always been attracted by the potential for new discoveries that goes hand in hand with our lack of knowledge about them.