About the Creator
I have a bachelor's degree in wildlife science with a minor in environmental writing and rhetoric earning my living as a wildlife biologist and currently pursuing a master's degree in ornithology. My research focuses on common ravens and greater sage-grouse in the sagebrush deserts of eastern Oregon, though I have worked with many organisms, including beetles, bats, skunks, birds, bobcat, moose, and woody plants. As an undergraduate I taught general biology, ornithology (study of birds), and dendrology (study of trees), and I have a working knowledge of many areas of natural resource study.
Through my studies and my work in various seasonal jobs across the country, I am lucky to have been allowed to work in some of the greatest wildernesses and with some of the most spectacular species North America has to offer. Often these remote postings provide little in the way of modern luxuries like television or reliable internet or cell phone service, thus I am always on the prowl for new hobbies and interests to fill my free time, especially ones which might activate my creative side. I enjoy writing, drawing, painting, and most other artistic pursuits, especially when combined with my interest in the natural world.
As my schooling suggests, I have always been partial to environmental writings, especially from some of the greats like Leopold, Carson, Muir, Emerson and Thoreau, and Goodall and Kimmerer. But perhaps the greatest inspirations for this Novasola Project are the writings and illustrations of John James Audubon, Florence Augusta Merriam, and the Lewis and Clark expedition.
I have always been fascinated by the idea of discovery, especially in exploring new worlds and the new life which inhabits them. It's this fascination with exploration and scientific discovery which probably drove me to become a scientist in the first place, and its also what makes Audubon and Lewis and Clark and Merriam so interesting to me. Florence Merriam's book Birds Through an Opera Glass, often considered one of the first ornithological field guides, details native bird species in a personal, journalistic way which brings far more life into the subject matter than a dry textbook without sacrificing information or knowledge, and revolutionized our relationships and interactions with birds. Lewis and Clark, with the Corps of Discovery, set off in a previously unknown and unmapped new world to them with the purposes of cataloguing that world (Unknown to them, that is, but not to the thousands of indigenous people that already called the area their home.) Similarly, Audubon, an admittedly problematic figure, endeavored to explore the continent and by describing each and every bird species he could he did inarguably contribute a great deal to ornithological knowledge and interest. In my lifetime most major discoveries of that nature have already been made, but if I could create an imaginary new world I could explore it just as they had. Which is what this project is all about. I have created for myself a fictional land wherein I might explore and describe the ecology and nature (and bird life, which is my greatest interest) in a realistic and plausible way. I can utilize all my knowledge of geology, biogeography, evolution, ecology, ornithology, island biology, taxonomy, and history which I have gained through my schooling and career to design a fictional island which I may populate with an entire field guide’s worth of fantastic, but scientifically plausible, bird species complete with Latin names and habitat needs and so on. Readers will see many parallels between my world and stories or events described by real famous explorers from which I pull inspiration.
An aside: this is just a hobby. Ultimately, I do this because I like to draw birds. And I've drawn so many birds I need a place to put the work. I often have a lot of free time, and I enjoy building life histories for them. As this is a hobby, I make no money off this, I have no agenda beyond fighting boredom, and I post my work here in the event I might want to show an entry to someone and to save space on my computer. With that said, I welcome everyone to view and read my work here, please enjoy!
- Richard Rich