Becky Crew grew up in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, and at various times her neighbors included a dog, cats, rabbits, quail, rats, a homing pigeon and a few mice, which she hid from her parents. At school she hated science and stayed away from cells, ribosomes and chemical equations, instead studying classical and Near Eastern archeology at Sydney University, and paid her school bills by working in the financial sector. The machinations of the financial world could not replace her innate admiration for animals, so she and her sister Sarah started a blog, Running Ponies, which turned into her creative outlet. Running Ponies led to Becky being named Australian Science Blogger of the Year in 2010. Becky's enthusiasm for scientific writing helped her take her to the next level - becoming the online editor of the Australian scientific journal COSMOS. Becky has been invited on Australian National Radio to talk about the best, the worst and the weirdest that the animal kingdom has to offer, has spoken at various conferences, was invited to join the Scientific American blog network for her Running Ponies blog; she had to fight a strong desire to sleep and eat in order to publish this, her first, book. Although she is happy with the company of the black white-breasted cat Bailey and the huge sea snails, she also dreams of one day having her own seagull - the owner of the most graceful coloring of all seabirds.