Julie was born in Gainesville, Florida, where she spent many an afternoon exploring the woods around her family's house. That's probably where she first fell in love with nature, and she has fanned the flame ever since.  When it came time to shape up and ship out, Julie attended Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, where she majored in biology and Spanish. After graduating from college, Julie decided to devote some time to Things Unrelated to Academics. But school eventually lured her back when she was accepted into New York University's Science, Health, and Environmental Reporting Program. Her close-knit class of 13 founded the program's online magazine, Scienceline, which published Julie's feature article "Black Mayonnaise." That story won first place for outstanding student reporting from the Society of Environmental Journalists in 2007. Julie is now the web managing editor at Science Friday, a website and weekly radio show hosted by Ira Flatow. Before that, she was a senior editor and a web manager at Audubon magazine. Though many scientific and environmental subjects appeal to her, Julie is particularly fascinated by the nexus between science and art. That's why, for several years, she enjoyed authoring Audubon's "One Picture" column, which appeared on the print edition's last page and featured a show-stopping image accompanied by descriptive text.