About Me

I fell in love with Svalbard, Norway and the Arctic as a child after reading Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass. That love ultimately led me to the University of Michigan, where I received my B.A. in Environmental Studies.

While in college, I spent three years as an undergraduate research assistant in a Glaciology Isotope and Geochemistry Lab. I helped graduate students process their research samples, looking for strontium and neodymium isotopes. Then, the summer after my freshman year, I was fortunate to be one of six students selected nationally to be part of an NSF Research Experience for Undergrads (REU) trip to Svalbard, Norway. During this trip, I spent five weeks furthering my undergraduate research at the base of the Kronebreen and Kongsvegen glaciers and staying in the town of Ny-Ålesund.

That fall, I received the opportunity to present my undergraduate research at the SACNAS conference in Washington, D.C.

As the end of my time in college approached, I became disillusioned by the idea of titrating samples in a lab for eight or more hours for the rest of my career. However, I still cared deeply about the Arctic and I knew I wanted to affect change. Thus, I turned my focus from purely scientific research towards science communication.

I’d been interested in writing and storytelling since I was a child, but it wasn’t until I took a Great Lakes Writing class at the University of Michigan Bio-station that I realized I could combine my love of writing with my love for the environment.

This newfound interest ultimately led me to receiving my MFA in Creative Writing from Chatham University, with a concentration on nonfiction and fiction environmental writing.

Since then, writing and communication have been the driving force behind every aspect of my career. I’m perpetually energized by exploring the way we tell stories and how, as storytellers, we can find new ways to write stories that resonate and connect with our audience.