Growing up in the suburban Midwest meant that I grew up internalizing the fact that Nature is everywhere. I spent my childhood falling in love with the shores of Lake Michigan’s city beaches, hiking through the restored Illinoisan Prairies, and exploring the countless forest preserves dropped down between highways and strip malls. Everything that connects me to the Earth today, I owe to a childhood spent in the subtle beauty of Illinois.

In fact, it was in my own backyard where my most formative experiences with the Earth took place. My favorite afternoons were those spent planting our veggie garden, standing with my feet in the dirt, watching my toes disappear beneath the rich soil and, most of all, making friends with the Worms that lived in our garden beds.

Twenty years later, after graduating with a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Loyola University Chicago’s School of Environmental Sustainability and Interdisciplinary Honors Program, I am so grateful to be putting this love into professional and full-time practice as I move into my seventh year with Kerulos.