I’m Ellie Kreider, a plant lover from Pennsylvania. For the next ten months, though, I’m leaving the East Coast behind and moving to Berlin, Germany! My hobbies include swing dancing, baking, and gardening. I love to sketch, and I love learning about plants. Sometimes I confuse people with my love of plants. They wonder, "Why would you want to study plants?" Oh, I am so glad you asked.
I have a story for you. When I was in middle school, I picked up a book on biology. I was just trying to learn new words. It was totally random, but that book started me down the path to becoming a biologist. Back then, I decided to study plants because I didn’t want to hurt animals. That’s right, I didn’t appreciate plants very much at first! Do you also think plants are a bit boring, since they can't move? However, I started to learn about them and realized how interesting they were. They can't run away, so they have complex chemicals that help them adapt to their environments. Also, I began recognizing the plants around me. When I began to identify plants more, the world seemed a lot less scary for little Ellie, who had a horrible sense of direction (and was always a little scared of getting lost forever).
