Hello! My name is Dr. David Shelley, and I am the education coordinator at the NPS Old-Growth Bottomland Forest Research and Education Center at Congaree National Park. My academic background is in geology and geomorphology, but I have had a broad interest in natural history since childhood--I have long been "that guy" who caught snakes at piano recital receptions, played in creeks, kept pet tarantulas, studied edible wild plants, and took salamanders to school for the teachers to share with other classes. During the nine years here at Congaree I have been fortunate to work with a wide range of researchers and educators here on various forest ecology projects, with topics ranging from spiders to birds to butterflies to trees to herpetofauna to vines and more. I also love hydrology, science communication, the environmental humanities (especially environmental history), and the arts (especially folk music and STEAM integration).