Tom Wainwright has a life-long passion for nature and conservation that began during his formative years in Prineville and continued throughout his migrations around the West. He is a retired research ecologist, and has done field work with both plants and animals in montane forests, deserts, estuaries, and coastal waters. Since returning to Central Oregon, he is rediscovering his first love of arid lands botany and general natural history. Tom volunteers with the Land Trust, the Oregon Citizen's Rare Plant Watch, and the Native Plant Society of Oregon, and is an Oregon Master Naturalist. He also enjoys gardening, tinkering, and hiking as much as old rusty knees allow.