Photo credit: Tasha Thomas
I grew up in a house in the woods in the middle of North Carolina. My mother is a biologist, and she taught my older sister, Dana, and me the name of every plant and animal on the property, which we informally named Poison Ivy Acres. Our father also has a deep love for the natural world, seems happiest outdoors, and can identify any tree in the region. I quickly learned the power of naming things, and the power of identification. Though the poison ivy in the forest where we played posed a real threat, I knew what to watch out for: those shiny, jagged leaves of three. I knew to eat the blackberries and to leave the holly berries alone. An ornithologist, my mother can identify just about any bird in the United States by its call or field marks...