The Fight for an Invisible Fish

May 23, 2022.Reading time 8 minutes.

Allow me to introduce you to fish you’ve likely never seen in the wild. The Clear Lake hitch, the California salmon, the Pacific lamprey, the Owens Lake pupfish, the surf fish. These fish, ranging from tiny minnows to toothy eels to historical behemoths providing nitrogen fertilizer to forests hundreds of kilometers from waterways where the […]

The power of sharing food with one another

February 14, 2022.Reading time 9 minutes.

Two years and over 5.5 million Covid-19 deaths later (in the US, as of this writing, we’re screaming towards one million) – these figures being conservative estimates, because countless cases remain unreported – we humans continue to bear the terrible brunt of a global health crisis that has morphed into compounding socio-political, psychological, and economic […]

Wildfires affect California tribes in myriad ways: some more visible than others

December 26, 2021.Reading time 10 minutes.

In my most recent article for PBS Southern California, KCET News, “California tribes support each other and seek inclusion in State wildfire response,” I relate how different tribes across Northern and Southern California address ongoing wildfire emergencies that impact tribal members living on tribal trust lands (reservations and rancherias). Flames were racing towards the Big […]

“Poetic surgery”: the alchemy of using words to transform heartache to beauty

September 26, 2021.Reading time 10 minutes.

I believe in the power of poetry. We have the great fortune to be surrounded by poetry. Poems can fill your email box every day, for free, by asking the Academy of American Poets. Slam poetry abounds in YouTube videos on the Poetry Slam Inc channel. Hours of carefully curated poetry is broadcast every other […]

What it means to be a whistleblower

September 16, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

Choosing to be a person of authentic integrity is a key part of my identity. It isn’t easy. Actually, that’s an understatement. It is frickin’ hard, and sometimes horridly difficult. Oftentimes there are no personal benefits, other than the quiet certitude of knowing I did the right thing.) In the worlds of business or academia, […]