Spellbound

If I were stranded on a desert island and allowed only one companion, hands down I would choose a biologist. Possessing practical field experience and superior powers of deduction, a biologist could give me the best shot at survival (not the least of which is warning me off the plants most likely to poison my cooking pot).

But surviving is not the same as thriving and here is where biologists offer another critical edge over the competition. The ones I know are endlessly knowledgeable, endlessly curious and endlessly entertaining. They draw back the curtain on the ingenious ways in which nature works, revealing stories of awe and wonder that are sustenance for the spirit, not just the body. 

(Image by Clint Penick)

Biologists have made my life richer beyond my wildest imagination. The essay “Spellbound” in the spring issue of Zygote Quarterly is the latest—but not the last—tribute of my profound gratitude.

Images by Clint Penick.