A recently graduated environmental science and biology student from University of Massachusetts Boston, with a great passion for every critter big and small. Working towards a career in the field of wildlife biology, either in conservation, national parks/forests, research, etc.

Currently working as a Wetland Vegetation Biotech in Yellowstone National Park! Formerly worked with the Science & Stewardship Team at the lovely Boston Harbor Islands National & State Park.

Many of you may know me as “the spider guy” on iNat! I do have a natural fondness for spider identification, morphology, and ecology, but I also love many other animal taxa, both here on iNaturalist, and out on my own adventures offline. Some of these taxa include Cephalopods, birds, mantis, butterflies, and freshwater fish, among many others. I also reserve a large place in my heart for native plant-life, and have a strong interest in their relationship with introduced/invasive species and the efforts to turn the tides back in favor of our beloved natives.

I am an avid preacher of iNaturalist because of it's incorporation of Participatory-Science and the way it engages the everyday public into reconnecting with the (often surprising) amount of nature around them. I also love the site because it allows me to not only see what’s in my backyard, but backyards all over the world! I love finding new species, and I can't wait to see what you all find as well. Happy Hunting!

I’m a big advocate of the unlimited potential that lies in the iNaturalist project feature, and I currently manage many iNaturalist projects (with more to come)! Here are a few of them!

Spiders of New England- a central database of all the Araneae observations in our beautiful region
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/spiders-of-new-england

Invasive Flora of Massachusetts- a database meant to isolate and focus on the most invasive plant species in the state; weeding them out(no pun intended) from the broad "introduced" umbrella-term that includes an astounding 700+ species (hence the need for a more focused project)
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/invasive-flora-of-massachusetts

Native Garden Alternatives- A collection of observations showing off the beauty of many of our native flora as an effort to replace our destructive, weedy ornamental garden plants with these vitally important natives. Just search your US state within the project and instantly see all the species ready to thrive in your backyard!
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/native-garden-alternatives

Battle for New England's Wetlands- a personal project of mine I created to isolate specific plant observations from my nearby wetlands from observations in my yard. These wetlands have become my focus site, where I go through and document the different native and introduced species that overlap in this habitat, and hypothesize about their impact on eachother.
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/battle-for-new-england-s-wetlands

I've curated a multitude of other iNaturalist projects, which can all be seen on the right side of this page: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/user/rangerharles