I am an avid naturalist who lives near the shoreline of Chesapeake Bay in Williamsburg, Virginia with my family and black lab Oliver. My favorite pastime is exploring the natural world by foot, kayak, and bike. I have traveled extensively throughout the Americas, the British Isles, Europe, and New Zealand; and have conducted field research in Antarctica and on a number of oceanic islands including Bermuda, the Cocos Islands, and the Galápagos. I earned my Ph.D. in Earth Science from the University of California, Santa Cruz and began my career in writing with a journalism fellowship at the Dallas Morning News through the American Association for the Advancement of Science. I later served as News & Media Director for the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and as the Science Communications Manager for a partnership between climate scientists and insurers at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences.