When most people come across animal bones on a hike, they might inspect them idly or quickly avert their eyes and keep moving. But to Hawke Woznick, these remnants of an animal’s life inspire reflection and curiosity.
“I always try to get the story [of the bones], because I want to treat each item with the most respect I can,” says Woznick, who uses he/they pronouns. “I kind of view them as little memoirs.”
Woznick traces his love of nature back to middle school, when he joined an after-school nature club. On Wednesday afternoons, the group would walk to Warner Park and learn about the plants and animals living there. That nascent fascination would inform Woznick’s career path: He double-majored in geology and environmental studies as an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison before completing a master’s degree in geoscience at Utah State University…