from Steve Reynolds

[SReynolds]

My name is Steve Reynolds and I live in the Champlain Valley of Vermont. I am a retired person, I spent my professional career in information technology managing the computer department of one of Vermont's hospitals, and I came to the study of aquatic invertebrates later in life. I have always been responsive to the beauty of clean waters, and that led to my interest in aquatic inverts. That, and a long-standing interest in photography, including cameras and microscopes. My home area has several streams coming off the western slope of the Green Mountains that provide some variety of conditions for sampling, from small mountain streams to low-land floodplains. I started collecting benthic samples two years ago,and in the process encountered numerous questions about technique, prep, identification that I needed help with. My principle help resources have been two college professors here in Vermont, and a staff tech at the Stroud Water Research Center in Pennsylvania, and a few books. Believing that there is a bigger audience of interested persons has led to the creation of this forum. Although I was an IT pro, this is my first bulletin board setup, and I will do my best to make it work.