Dr. Catherine Pringle served as co-PI on the NSF Frontiers in Integrative Biological Research (FIBR) project in Trinidad investigating interactions between ecological and evolutionary processes. Considering whether population-level local adaptation could impact the structure and function of communities and ecosystems was a paradigm shift not just for the Pringle lab but for stream ecology more broadly. My dissertation investigated the ecosystem effects of local adaptation in Trinidadian guppies in-situ, using an experimental approach developed by Dr. Pringle in Puerto Rico to isolate the effects of stream macroconsumers (shrimp) from patches of stream bottom using electricity (electric exclosures). Dr. Pringle encouraged a Jane Goodall approach to my research, suggesting quite observation of my study system and allowing deeper investigation of curious findings, even if not directly in the scope of the project. For example, observations and results from an experiment led us to conduct a landscape-scale study which provided evidence that the presence of an omnivorous consumer (guppies) decoupled a trophic cascade resulting in increased leaf decomposition rates. Dr. Pringle’s influence was also indirect via other students working on a diversity of projects in the lab. When I joined the Pringle lab there were ten graduate students working on six projects, each based in a different country and with a different scope of work: ranging from ecological consequences of Chytrid disease in Panama to ecosystem effects of macroconsumers at Coweeta hydrologic station in North Carolina. Dr. Pringle's approach to mentorship, allowed me make mistakes early, but ultimately led to an NSF predoctoral fellowship, an invited presentation at an international symposium, three publications, and a technical collaboration with NEON/STREAM to standardize Dr. Pringle’s electric exclosure design. In my current role with the Georgia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Dr. Pringle’s philosophy of using observation to generate questions and deeper system knowledge continues to influence my approach science.