About
I've always skipped just a bit off the beaten path, invariably happier with some measure of adventure and challenge in my life. I stretch my boundaries, lean into fear. One of my favorite mantras? If it's not a "Fuck yes!", it's a "No".
This has taken me to places high and low. I jumped into an environmental engineering Ph.D. program when I wasn’t trained as an engineer but was obsessed with water (and cried my way through more than a few all-nighters), but then, was able to bring students to the wilds of Patagonia, the Himalaya, and Alaska. I've chased rivers, mountains, deserts, and oceans across five continents. Dived with orca in Arctic Norway. Done water science in the Brazilian Amazon. Spent months in places like Costa Rica and Kenya. Run rivers and found wonder, awe, and connection with rock and water and animals and humans. I’ve had my heart broken; danced at Burning Man; ripped my knee open to the patella. I’ve navigated lots of uncomfortable edges.
This lifelong connection with water and wilds informs everything I do: the expeditions, the fieldwork, the science, the art, the writing—it's all one practice of reading the natural world deeply enough to illuminate everything else.
Selected Work
I've led student expeditions across three continents, served as science advisor for the film Patagonia Rising, worked with Science on the Fly in the Brazilian Amazon, and completed artist residencies in Kenya and Colorado. My work moves between science, storytelling, education, and art—always rooted in reading place.
Credentials
I hold a Ph.D. in Water Resources (Biogeochemistry and Hydrology, MIT), an M.S. in Environmental Policy and Planning (MIT), an M.S. in Coastal Geology (Duke University), and a B.A. in Geography (Dartmouth College), and a certificate in Dispute Mediation from Harvard Law School. I received a 40-hour certificate in Dispute Mediation from Harvard Law School and a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training certificate from School Yoga Institute in the Sacred Valley of Peru.
As President of Water Futures, I help organizations build water resiliency. I'm the author of Taking on Water: How One Water Expert Challenged Her Inner Hypocrite, Reduced Her Water Footprint (without Sacrificing a Toasty Shower), and Found Nirvana, was a science advisor for the film Patagonia Rising, and show my contemporary artwork regularly. I've taught for MIT and the Sierra Institute, and served on several boards including High Country News, the Sun Valley Institute for Resilience, Blaine County’s Land, Water & Wildlife Levy, and the Idaho chapter of International Women's Forum.