Who's that chick, who's that chick

So you stumbled across this blog...and you're wondering 'what on earth does Preystone mean?? Perhaps if you're a budding naturalist such as myself then you've heard of a keystone species...but if not I've probably lost you twice now! Don't worry friend, it's really quite simple, 'preystone' is just keystone + predator and that's exactly what you'll find here on this blog: information about keystone predators that'll teach your something, make you smile and hopefully inspire you to act in ways to conserve these critical species.

Myself and Kusa my sister's Klee Kai

 If you're not too clear on what a keystone species if already, don't worry we'll get to that in the next post. But first, I wanted to let you know who I am...after all if you're reading this you might want to be assured I'm credible and yada yada....well, I'm not...not exactly...

First of all my name's Tess, and I'm a 21 year old biology major (focusing on ecology, evolution and conservation) at the Unversity of Washington in sunny *er damp* Seattle, Washington.  I'm also a volunteer at the Woodland Park Zoo, where I get to hang out with the jaguars every week. But before we go into full on resume mode let's take a trip back in time...

My dad and I at Volcanoes National Park, HI

Ever since the day my big sister looked down on 5 year-old Tess holding a kitten in her arms and said, "You'll never love animals as much as me," I made it my MISSION to prove her wrong! Since then I've parlayed this challenge into something a little more concrete, post-college I'd like to become more involved with species conservation work and I'd like to do it with some big players - keystone predators in various ecosystems. 

So while I'm not yet an expert,  I would say that I'm a young woman with an insane passion for animals whose number one goal in this lifetime is to help save species, especially keystone predators that help maintain the delicate and complex ecosystems across our earth. Join me! :)