Mary A HoodProfessor emerita of microbiology at the University of West Florida, Mary A. Hood grew up in a small town near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Besides publishing over sixty scientific/technical articles in the field of microbial ecology and articles on consevation and the environment, she is the author of three collections of poetry and three nature/travel essay collections, including The Strangler Fig and Other Tales: Field Notes of a Conservationist (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004) and RiverTime: Ecotravels on the World's Rivers (State University of New York Press, 2008). Read More Read Less