Tzila "Z" Duenzl

Weatherford, Texas, USA

I have been immersed in Nature since I was very little. My father always had me outside, and spent a lot of time showing me how to observe everything in nature around me, for which I am eternally grateful. I am amazed, awed, and humbled by what I see every day.

I am self-taught in my knowledge of natural things, using every reference book/field guide and/or person who can tell me what the name of a thing is. I have studied: plants/herbs/wildflowers... especially 'folk' uses of plants & herbs for health and food; ocean intertidal life; birds; animal behavior; and insects.

I have given presentations at colleges and to local organizations on the "Folk Uses of Local plants"; made donations of my collections (shells, pressed plants, wildflower seeds, fossils) to various institutions and organizations; and I've been a Nature guide and docent at several preserves and parks. I also created and led a Girls' Nature and Art Camp in the Santa Lucia mountains in California.

I suppose I would be called a "generalist" when it comes to my studies of nature...I like to know as much as I can about all the things I see!

"In Nature everywhere!"