Meet the Team

Ryan Garrett

Ryan began filming ants through a microscope in 2012 while researching leafcutter behaviors at the University of Oregon. These videos, included in his first publication, offer a novel view into the inner-world of leafcutter ants, and were met enthusiastically by researchers, insect keepers, and laypeople alike. Realizing the power of video to make tiny worlds large, Ryan founded Leaf House Scientific in 2017 to reveal the beautifully strange lives of insects through film and display. He has since co-created exhibitry for the American Museum of Natural History, consulted and filmed for BBC’s Green Planet series, and handled insects for productions including Disney’s Supernatural and Cat Person.

  • Dr. Robert Schofield

    Dr. Schofield is a physicist at the University of Oregon who studies gravitational waves at LIGO Hanford and biomaterials in invertebrates, particularly heavy metals found in the mandibles of leafcutter ants. He is a problem-solving machine and an invaluable resource to Leaf House Scientific endeavors.

  • Sompong "Ter" Naruemonnaphakorn

    Ter is an educator, conservationist, and translator who moves easily between Thai, Western, and Hill Tribe languages and cultures. He teaches sustainable farming practices at an international school in Thailand, but hopes to eventually promote wildlife conservation by guiding birding trips in his native Karen region of Mae Hong Son.

  • Abby Carroll

    Abby is a Jane-of-all-trades with a love for plants, ants, and exploration. She is the artist, fabricator, and voice of reason at Leaf House Scientific.

  • Mus Agoutiram

    Mus prefers the songs of wild birds to the chaos of his home city in Trinidad. He spends his days farming the steep, muddy slopes of the christophine farm, tending his orchid garden, and peering through binoculars into the avian world around him. He has helped locate and collect countless leafcutter colonies, and offers great insight into the people and wildlife of Trinidad.