Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't
Joey Santore is a self-taught naturalist, author, and host who mixes field botany, ecology, and sharp Chicago humor in Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t.
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Latest
Joey’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus his backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
Cool Springs Press
EarthxTV
Pacific Street PublishingOverview
- Creator
- Joey Santore
- From
- La Grange, Illinois, in the Chicago area
- Work
- Naturalist, video and podcast host, author, illustrator
- Earlier career
- Freight railroad work
- Breakout
- A viral coyote-pup video in 2019
Mini bio
How it started.
Joey grew up in the Chicago area and developed his knowledge outside a conventional academic career. In his Voyage Austin interview, he describes studying botany while working as a railroad brakeman and switchman across the American West. He read textbooks and research papers during waits at red signals, following questions about the plants, rocks, and deep history around him.
Finding his voice.
Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t wraps plant science in jokes, profanity, and social commentary. A video of his attempt to help a sick coyote pup went viral in 2019 and brought his Chicago delivery to a wider audience. The plants remain the focus: his own website explains that he wants people to understand the evolutionary histories and ecological relationships of the life around them.
From field trips to front yards.
Joey and longtime friend Al Scorch brought native-plant advocacy to television with Kill Your Lawn, which debuted on EarthxTV in 2023. His illustration collection, Crime Pays But Art Doesn’t, gathers plants, landscapes, portraits, and political observations. In 2026, Concrete Botany extended his interest in disturbed landscapes and native habitat into a book published by Cool Springs Press. Its publisher lists Concrete Botany as a New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller.
Creditschronological, newest first
Books
- 2026Concrete Botany: The Ecology of Plants in the Age of Human DisturbanceAuthor
- 2022Crime Pays But Art Doesn'tWriter and illustrator
Television
- 2023–2024Kill Your LawnCo-host with Al Scorch
Quotes
My aim is to give people a context in which to place the living, non-human world that they see around them.Joey Santore, official website
His statement of purpose for teaching plant ecology and evolution.
Trivia
- He studied botany from textbooks and research papers while waiting at red railway signals.
- He is also an illustrator, with a book of black-and-white drawings ranging from botanical studies to portraits.
- He and Al Scorch helped make the Chicago River snapping turtle nicknamed Chonkosaurus an internet star in 2023.
Find Joey
Follow Joey’s field trips, plant stories, and native habitat projects.
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