By Kayla Schmidt Photography by Justin Negard You probably don’t think much about ticks unless one has latched on to you. Tom Daniels thinks about them constantly. As a vector ecologist at Fordham University’s Louis Calder Center, he’s spent 40 years studying the tiny, much-loathed creatures, and he’ll be the first to tell you they deserve a little more respect ...

By Kayla Schmidt Photography by Justin Negard Michael Leonard has spent nearly 44 years getting to know other people’s trees. As a certified arborist with SavATree, based out of Bedford Hills, he’s spent his career inspecting, diagnosing and caring for the trees that shape Westchester’s properties—and the homeowners who love them. What inspired you to take care of trees? My ...

By Kayla Schmidt Ever wondered what it takes to care for a turkey vulture, a porcupine or a turtle? Lisa Kelly, the animal care supervisor at Teatown, has spent the past 17 years learning the answer to that question—and many others like it. Hers is a career built off the beaten path: no traditional degree, just a childhood love of ...

By Kayla Schmidt The Hudson River runs more than 300 miles, and Luis Melendez knows a good chunk of it by heart. As a boat captain for 16 years, the last two as the boat captain for the Riverkeeper, he patrols the river’s estuary from the Gowanus Canal in the city up to the Federal Lock in Troy, learning new ...

By Kayla Schmidt There’s an old saying that if you love your job, you don’t work a day in your life. For Rebecca Bose, curator at the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, that rings true. For over 26 years, she has opted for wolves instead of vet school, built a career around animals she deeply respects, and found a ...

By Gia Miller & Justin Negard Photography by Justin Negard When commercial real estate and fashion executive Steve Giner moved into a “fixer-upper stone carriage house” in Katonah almost 20 years ago, someone mentioned his interesting neighbor, but he didn’t give it much thought. One summer day, during the middle of his home renovation, Giner was outside observing his foundation ...

By Gia Miller Photography by Justin Negard "I find a sense of calm and peace from being in nature,” explains Waccabuc resident Sally Frank. As an artist who has dedicated over half a century to printmaking, for Frank, the natural world is not only her refuge, it’s her source of inspiration, her visual muse. And nature is also fundamental to ...

By Gia Miller Heavy Metal Therapy “Listen,” says Metallica’s frontman James Hetfield to northern Westchester resident and acclaimed documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger. “The film is very painful to watch. I’m not sure I am ever going to watch it again.” It’s late September 2003; Berlinger and his co-director/co-producer, Bruce Sinofsky, have spent the past three years filming the renowned heavy ...

What do you do when your dog is struggling to get around, anti-inflammatories aren’t enough, surgery isn’t the right option, but you want to treat their symptoms? Or what if your pet has a chronic illness and you don’t want them on medications with side effects? “There are other options,” says veterinarian Dr. Andy Frishman, owner of Progressive Animal Hospital ...