Author & Ecologist
In 2007, I sold my first short story, 'Turning Point,' to the speculative fiction journal ZAHIR. Set in the highland forests of Costa Rica, 'Turning Point' chronicles the tensions between three field entomologists who must decide what to do when a faerie falls into one of their malaise traps. The meticulous Ruth, dedicated to documentation and... Continue Reading →
The number of bees we've identified from our summer collection topped 160 this week. We won't finish identifying all the specimens collected before the deadline for my student's final written report, but we'll get through most of it. She'll certainly have enough data to say some interesting things. Between our garden and prairie sites, we've... Continue Reading →
Not too long ago, I hit a milestone in the native bee project I've been working on with my Avila honors student, Laura Presler: We identified the 100th wild bee in our summer research collection. A lot of people out there have identified many more bees than that, so by some standards 100 bees is... Continue Reading →
One of the most common questions I hear is how I got interested in writing. I actually have a very clear memory of the first story I wrote, based on a dream I had when I was a little girl. I always point to that as the initiation of my interest in story telling. Similarly,... Continue Reading →
After a rather slow start this spring, activity has picked up at Jerry Smith Park. Less than a month ago, not only were bees in short supply, but insects of all kinds were scarce. Now the prairie is buzzing, hopping, flying - even being chewed apart! The explosion of life in such a short space... Continue Reading →
Friends in the northeast are getting pummeled by one deep freeze after another, but here in the Midwest, spring has made its presence felt. The sun shines bright over warm and breezy days. Daffodils are pushing up through the dirt. Birds defend their territories and build nests, and the grass looks greener every time I... Continue Reading →
Classes start this week. In other words, we are five blinks away from Christmas! I've been blessed with a wonderful summer and am starting the new academic year rested and ready (more-or-less) to go. Two of my favorite courses are in this fall's line-up: Introduction to Animal Behavior and Women and Science. When I was an undergrad, I... Continue Reading →
2016 was a hard year for a lot of people, myself included, but despite the general wailing and gnashing of teeth out there in the interverse, I can't help but feel that 2016 was, on the whole, no better or worse than 2015. To be fair, 2015 was a pretty bad year for me.... Continue Reading →
There are several aspects of flamenco that have bedeviled me since I first started studying the dance form a few years back. One of these is contratiempos. The other is the use of the castanets. Last week, I had the opportunity to tackle both in an intensive workshop with the Escuela de Flamenco Paulina Peralta in Costa Rica. Contratiempos is... Continue Reading →
