Justin Touchon grew up loving nature in Oregon, USA, spending his summers hiking and camping. After attending college at Willamette University, he conducted his doctoral research at Boston University. During his PhD, he discovered his love for the tropics, working and living at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama on and off for 10 years. Now an Associate Professor in the Biology Department at Vassar College, he spends his time studying frogs and tadpoles, teaching students about animals, behaviour, and statistics, and exploring the Hudson Valley with his family and friends.