In my 30-year career as an engineer and scientist, I led and coauthored research on a variety of environmental and public health topics. My publication record includes more than 80 scientific journal articles (60), government reports, book chapters, guidance documents, technical manuals, and 2 academic dissertations. In many of these publications, I focused on telling factual stories about data to inform decisions for environmental public health protection. My latest journal article, presenting a data mapping approach to help address childhood lead exposures, was recently published in the American Journal of Public Health.
My new writing projects focus on thought-provoking, inspirational fiction and non-fiction. I’m currently seeking a publisher for my first novel, “Trying” (upmarket women’s fiction), and I look forward to sharing that story. I am also starting a blog for this website about my scientific career journey and mentoring FAQs, as a way to encourage and support the next generation of scientists and engineers. My passion for dance, especially ballroom dancing, inspired my “just for fun” blog, Life Lessons from the Dance Floor. Other writing projects in development include poems, personal essays, and memoir.
I am a Writer in Residence and Co-Coordinator of the Writer’s Studio at the Follow Your Art Community Studios and a member of Boston’s Grub Street Center for Creative Writing.
“The idea is not to live forever; it is to create something that will.” – Andy Warhol
“Writing is a calling, not a choice.” – Isabel Allende
“The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.” – Maya Angelou
“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” – Anais Nin
“I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.” – James Michener
“Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” – Mary Oliver.
“A writer, I think, is someone who pays attention to the world.” – Susan Sontag.
“Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way.” – Ray Bradbury
“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart,” – William Wordsworth
“If something inside you is real, we will probably find it interesting, and it will probably be universal. So you must risk placing real emotion at the center of your work. Write straight into the emotional center of things.” – Anne Lamott
“If a story is in you, it has to come out.” – William Faulkner
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