Madelon (Maddy) Case grew up exploring the mountains, forests and deserts of the Pacific Northwest. A botany research program in Idaho at the age of 15 inspired a passion for plant ecology and conservation biology that has guided her academic interests ever since. She went on to pursue a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University. In her time as an undergraduate, her interest in ecology has taken her to spruce forests in Maine, coral reefs off the coast of Panama, and the mountain meadows in Oregon where she studied the effects of gopher mounds on plant communities for her senior thesis. She is also fascinated by theoretical approaches to biology and has enjoyed creating mathematical models of forest succession and the evolution of the mimic octopus for classes at Princeton. Outside of her academic work, Maddy is an avid hiker and rock climber. As a student at Princeton she has found many ways to practice leading and teaching others, from tutoring fellow students in the Writing Center to training new leaders for freshman outdoor orientation trips as a Leader Trainer in the Outdoor Action program. She also enjoys writing creative nonfiction, doing crossword puzzles, and cooking meals for dozens of people at the Two Dickinson Street Co-op.