Writing is an act of courage, faith, heart, and joy.

For the past seven years I’ve worked at crafting true stories (creative nonfiction essays), centered around my life as an ethnoecologist. I’ve gone through hundreds of drafts, dozens of rejections.

My first essay to be nominated for a Pushcart was published in Fall 2014 by the Bellevue Literary Review. Titled “All Our Relations,” it details the ecological connections that link hummingbirds with humans, wolves with fish, and posits a new way to classify species.

My second essay to be nominated was published in November 2015 by Hippocampus magazine. Titled “Until We Have Loved,” it tells the story of my attempts to rescue a tiny (itty bitty) bat, and what it means to be an environmental scientist witnessing a world of hurts. I’ve dedicated this essay to Bat Conservation International.

The Pushcart Prize is one of the most coveted honors in literary publishing. It is tremendously exciting for a writer to be recognized in this way!! Thank you, editors. Thank you, readers. May we continue to support the literary lifeblood flowing through writers’ veins.