COVER CREDITS

Native Washingtonian, National Park Service Ranger, and Texas A&M University Recreation, Park and Tourism
Sciences doctoral student Lavell Merritt, Jr. canoeing on Woodlake at the rear of his Texas home. Photo by Jerren
Willis.

COVER STORY
20  Love, Nature                    and Happines

Loving nature is more than an academic exercise for Lavell Merritt, Jr., a Texas A&M University Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences doctoral student. He first met his wife, Andrea, on U Street, NW in the nation’s capital after spending 15 days fighting fires in Utah as a National Park Service ranger. The native Washingtonian would later discover that his future wife also has an appreciation for nature (when they met she worked for the Audubon Naturalist Society as an environmental educator). Today, he has turned his love for the outdoors into his profession.

FOCUS:  Black and Green 
22  Planetwalker

23  Back Home

FEATURE

24  Ten Tips for Improving      Your Photography

DEPARTMENTS 
2  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

THE PUBLISHER’S POINT
4  Intimacy with Nature