Maria Park spends her days studying tree communities. The Ecology, Evolution and Behavior Ph.D. student is a keep observer of nature who turns those observations into insights about how trees influence one another. Her love of nature and penchant for looking closely at the world around her started early and fed a lifelong interest in both science and art. Park, a trained artist, produced the art for the college’s year-end card using natural pigments to create a scene featuring species found in the Forests and Biodiversity experiment at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve.
