Sally Spurgeon Weeks was born and grew up on a dairy farm near Winamac, Indiana. She "found" trees later in life, almost by accident while a student at Purdue University; they became her passion, Charles Deam her posthumous tutor, and photography her collection medium. She has received a BSF in wildlife management and a MS in Forestry from Purdue's Department of Forestry and Natural Resources. She has taught aspects of tree identification at Purdue for 15 years and now is responsible for teaching laboratory and recitation portions of Dendrology.