About Stan Malcolm...



I was born in New York City (Elmhurst, Queens, to be precise). Growing up, I spent good summer times at my grandparents' home in South Paris, Maine. That, and my time at a summer cottage my folks owned in Huntington, Long Island, NY fostered my enjoyment of natural history and probably saved me from life as a city rat. I owe my father a debt of gratitude for starting me on an insect collection. It got me out observing nature, and exposed me to the infinite diversity of life.

I attended the City College of New York and got a superb, virtually-free college education. (Ah, those days are gone.) I did my MS in Entomology at the University of Maine in Orono, studying the water beetles of Maine. Next came four years in the US Army - in Korea and at Fort Knox, KY - where I served as a medical entomologist. I "graduated" as a Captain. While at Fort Knox, I moonlighted for the University of Kentucky, teaching Biology and a Wildflowers of Kentucky course. Upon leaving the Army in late '75, I came to the University of Connecticut where I earned a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology, still studying a group of beetles but now focused on patterns of their evolution. After a lengthy job search I found a technical writing position at Aetna through the good offices of UCONN's biological illustrator - thank you Mary Jane. That Aetna job led me to another in the field of computer-based training. That, and the trauma of Aetna in the mid-nineties, led to my current role as a consultant in technology-based learning and performance support systems.


STAN MALCOLM

I have three children: a daughter married and living in northern England, and a daughter and son still at home. Recently, my first grandchild, Hazel, was born. My wife Julie was a UCONN wildlife biology major who now works as a veterinary technician. (She helps with identification of birds, mammals, and trees. I handle the insects and most of the wildflowers.) When I'm not walking the trail or consulting, I'm probably engaged in family history research. I have no special training in photography. I took a lot of pictures back in college days, using Kodak's excellent series of "Here's How" publications as my tutor. Then life happened and photography was put aside.

The combination of purchasing a digital camera and needing an "occupation" for my solitary walks led to this web site. After all, I was amassing all these pictures - I had to do something with them. As I write this, two and a half years have elaspsed since I began this Air Line Trail web site. What started as a single page in order to share photos with friends and family, has grown to a virtual tour of the trail in all seasons featuring over 600 photos. Framed copies of some photos are hung in England, Wales, Canada, and several US locations. The site has received notice in newspapers and on public radio. Plans are afoot for my first gallery exhibitions, and I've received inquiries about commercial use of specific images. None of this planned, of course, just a matter of one thing leading to another. Still, my primary enjoyment comes from walking the trail, taking the photos, and sharing them: the fundamentals.