My debut novel, No More Empty Spaces, will be published in April 2024. It is a timely story of how science impacts our daily lives, even if we try to close our eyes to it. The earthquake-prone region of Turkey, where the fictional Kayakale Dam is to be built, is a dangerously shifting landscape, every bit as unstable as the broken American family that seeks to heal itself there.

As the GeologistWriter, I strive to understand and convey the wonder of the landscape and the complexity of earth processes while also exploring the mysterious terrain of the human heart through stories and essays.

I worked as an environmental and engineering geologist for 30 years in more than 35 states, with 20 of those years as a self-employed consultant. Though I’ve stepped away from geological consulting to pursue my second career as a writer, I remain active in the Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists, a professional organization, where I currently co-chair the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. I have had the privilege of mentoring many young professionals and I champion the Norman R. Tilford Field Studies scholarships which support students learning geology in the field. The scholarship is named in honor of my late husband, an internationally-recognized engineering geologist, who died in a small plane crash on his way to lead a student field trip in 1997.

Having written poetry as a girl, I rediscovered my love for creative writing after establishing myself as a professional geologist. Over the years, I wrote a poetry chapbook, Each Bed of Stone, and co-authored a book of poetry in dialogue with two other poets titled Triologue. I have also had personal essays published in bosque literary journal and the regional sailing magazine, 48North. Under the working title of Inundations my novel was a finalist in the 2015 Faulkner-Wisdom Novel-In-Progress Contest and a finalist for the 2022 Eludia Prize.

Home is a passive solar adobe house at the north end of the Sandia Mountains in New Mexico and a sailboat in the Pacific Northwest during the summers. In both places, I spend as much time as possible outdoors.