As the story goes, in answer to the question, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” I said “an environmentalist” way back in the fifth grade.  I am still figuring out what it is to be an “environmentalist” and I’m not entirely convinced that I’m grown up yet.  What I do know is that I’m a reader and a writer, a storyteller and an avid listener and an optimist about the future.

Story is something that has always been a part of my life.  My dad started it off with his ritual of reading to his daughters at bedtime.  He was so devoted to the practice that he read aloud all three books of Lord of The Rings twice, once to me and then again to my sister when she was old enough!  I’ve been an avid reader since I was a child and many of the books I immersed myself in at a young age have helped shape my values and my aspirations even to today.

I am also a teacher of creative writing and a published author, with five short-story publications to my name.  Three of my published stories grapple with questions of environmental ethics:

Thought and Memory, Tesseracts 9, edited by Nalo Hopkinson and Geoff Ryman, Edge Press, 2006.  (Anthology winner of the Aurora Award)

Daylighting the Donwell River, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, Small Beer Press, Nov. 2005, Issue 17.

If We Plant It, They Will Come, Storyteller: Canada’s Short Story Magazine, TYO Communications, Summer 2000, Vol. 7 (1).

My interest in oral storytelling began with listening, a role that I’m still the most comfortable with.  However, in autumn of 2007 I took the plunge and enrolled in a beginner’s storytelling workshop put on by the Ottawa Storytellers.  Having wet my feet, I am now pursuing further education in the art form through workshops put on by the Scottish Storytelling Centre.

Story and environmental ethics are also at the heart of my academic pursuits.  Having recently finished my PhD in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Carleton University, I have relocated myself, my partner and our dog to Edinburgh where I am currently enjoying the relative freedom of a two-year post-doctoral research position in Counselling and Psychotherapy at the University of Edinburgh.  For more on story, the environment, and my academic pursuits see the “Storythinking” page.