Cheryl and spiders: It kind of just goes together now.

I certainly wasn't the kind of kid that grew up collecting bugs and spiders.

I always like jumping spiders. They're just so darn cute.

You don't work with spiders very long before you start noticing how important silk is to their life and just how special that is for spiders.

With all due respect to arachnophobes, I love spiders. Some might call me obsessed, but I've been studying spiders and spider silks for many years now and don't see an end in sight. There is simply too much to do.

It's like the spiders are sharing an ancient secret with me, and that's why I'm going to spend the rest of my life studying spider silk.