What initially draws my eyes to the tall, stalky plant growing near the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the round, green bulge in a stem near its crown. Called galls, such growths are often caused by insects like wasps and flies, whose larvae use them as safe places to feed and grow. I’m excited to show it to 2025 Steve Kemp writer and illustrator in residence Jim and Leslie Costa, who are leading a Smokies Life Branch Out event exploring the diversity of insects found in the area.

Smokies Life announced Jim and Leslie Costa as the recipients of its 2025 Steve Kemp Writer’s Residency. During their residency, the North Carolina-based couple plans to continue work already underway to write and illustrate a forthcoming field guide to the Smokies insects to be published by Smokies Life.