I have worked around 25 years with conservation biology in the western United States. I am currently a biological consultant with our own family-owned company. I feel more at home within a rich biodiversity, one of the reasons that pulled me to iNaturalist. I attribute my parents and grandparents for instilling the love of nature. Besides David Attenborough films, pertinent learnin’ and inspiration for my identification skills include, but are not limited to:

o Quirky curious people, usually with stuff like fishing poles, nets, binoculars, hand lenses, plant presses, aquariums, or snake tongs.
o BS in Wildlife Biology (Humboldt State. Emphasis in non-game birds - primarily Neotropical migrants, seabirds, and shorebirds; and Botany)
o BS in Zoology (Humboldt State. Emphasis in taxonomy)
o MS in Environmental Science (UNLV. Emphasis in fish conservation)
o PhD in Environmental and Conservation Biology (NDSU. Emphasis on the conservation of imperiled species)

My eBird profile is: https://ebird.org/ebird/profile/NDgzMDc3

Keep in mind I am doing this to learn new species, I am not an expert with most of the taxa I post (matter of fact, just starting to learn some of them, such as spiders and insects) and am identifying from obvious external characteristics, not internal. As such some species that are very similar may be misidentified (or grossly dissimilar based on my ignorance). I am identifying this stuff as a learning tool for myself. I also do this to establish records for the specific sites so future interested parties can have a better idea of distribution.

I use field guides and the internet (web pages and downloaded keys) to identify stuff. They are great sources and sites to obtain, use, and to support financially. I use a lot of sites, but the main ones are:
• Bugguide - http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740
• Minnesota Wildflowers - https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/
• Odonatacentral - http://www.odonatacentral.org/
• (insert taxa here) of the Northwest series – Kollath + Stensaas Publishing

Many of my macro photos are focus stacked. I use an Olympus TG-4 and a Nikon D-series SLR for most of my shots, all on auto. For the most part I do not do any post processing, other than zooming or cropping. I may lighten a photo if it is too dark, but that may be 1 in a 100 photos.