I was an aquatic ecologist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for 37 years before retiring at the end of 2016. While at ORNL, I specialized in the effects of pollution on and ecology of aquatic invertebrates. Towards the end of my career, I became more involved in studies on exposure to and bioaccumulation of contaminants in aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates. I have had a lifelong love of the outdoors, and developed a fascination and interest in “bugs” as a child, which is an interest I have never lost. Due to some of the projects I worked on during my last 10 years of employment, I became increasingly interested in dragonflies/damselflies and spiders.