This guide features over 400 species of plants and animals most commonly encountered in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. KRISTA KAGUME is a nature writer who has travelled across North America, working as a freelance journalist, cycling-tour guide and deckhand on a commercial fishing vessel. After earning her degree in conservation biology, Krista focused on environmental research and communications. Her work in Alberta and the Northwest Territories has included research on tiny tundra plants, organic farming, breeding birds and one grizzly bear immobilization. She currently lives in a small town outside Edmonton with her adventurous family, who enjoys the outdoors and encourages others to appreciate nature.