Judy Hall (Jacobson) began to study botany while a student at Cornell University where in 1975, she received a degree in Environmental Conservation. She participated in studies of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest and the effects of clear-cutting on wildlife habitat in Southeast Alaska for Oregon State University. Currently, she is a naturalist with Alaska Nature Tours in Haines and has written Guide to Plants along the Manuka Nature Trail on the Big Island of Hawai'i, and several mushroom books. She enjoys exploring Alaska and Hawaii with her husband on land aboard the M/V Arcturus