• Ph.D. English, University of Washington
• M.F.A. Creative Writing, Vermont College
• B.A. English, Hampshire College
 
“Let the beauty you love be what you do.” ~ Rumi
 
I hitchhiked to Alaska at the age of twenty from New England.  Homer, a fishing town, on Kachemak Bay, became my home for many years.  I supported myself through a range of work –from waitressing to commercial fishing to construction and homebuilding—eventually building a small cabin in which I lived, Thoreau-like, without running water. I earned my MFA degree in creative writing (fiction) and have written and published a number of short stories set in Alaska.
 
The Exxon Valdez oil spill was a life-changer, catapulting me into the scholarship, teaching, and writing I now enjoy.  I am co-editor of The Environmental Justice Reader.  I am currently working on a novel based on some of the events of the oil spill.
 
I find teaching to be the perfect antidote to the solitary pursuit of writing.  Engagement with students stimulates and refreshes me.  I enjoy the collaboration that results when teachers and students join together in common cause.  It renews my hope in effecting necessary change in the world we all share.