I am a writer, researcher and playwright, living in the mountains of western Maryland with my daughter, wild turkeys and the occasional bear. I spent my childhood not far away in Shepherdstown, West Virginia and Arlington, Virginia. I graduated from Rice University with a B.A. in Biochemistry in 1995 and from Tulane University with an M.A. in Latin American Studies in 2011.
Since 2004 I have worked in various capacities on research projects related to rural communities and tropical forests, primarily with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). I have had the pleasure of working with extraordinary people in Bolivia, Vietnam, Peru, Nicaragua, Uganda, Ghana and Burkina Faso. My areas of focus include participatory methods, participatory governance monitoring, collaborative monitoring in forest restoration, participatory action research, community development, gender and community forest management. I enjoy fieldwork, facilitating workshops with all types of people (villagers, local leaders, government officials, scientists), training field teams and writing. I am a native English speaker, and I can read, speak and write in Spanish. Please see publications to read more.
I have been an entrepreneur in a web development startup (Blink Interactive, Atlanta, 1995-2001), a Peace Corps Volunteer (Bolivia, 2002-2004), a social business partner (Salvatierra Imports, Bolivia and US, 2005-2015), an arts activist (Arts-to-Action Coordinator, Louisiana Bucket Brigade, 2012-2014), and co-founder and executive director of an experimental theater festival (New Orleans Fringe, 2008-2014).
I now spend my free time writing plays and stories, gardening, playing ukulele, swimming, shooting bows, and building fairy houses in the forest with my daughter.