I grew up in Sacramento, CA with two brothers and many dogs. I began my undergraduate career at UC Berkeley, but transferred to Vassar College for my sophmore through senior years. Interested in almost every subject I encountered -- computer science, math, chemistry, art, psychology, physical anthropology, literature -- I had a hard time picking an area of focus. I chose philosophy because it seemed to be at the center of it all, and because it promised to provide a broad and rigorous base of skills. Plus, all the most fascinating discussions always seemed to occur in the philosophy classroom. I completed my BA in Spring of 1999. 

After college, I took a three year break from the academy to lead bicycle and multisport trips all over the country for a company called Backroads. As amazing as it was to get paid to bike through beautiful landscapes, after three years of that, I found myself longing for the company of people dedicated to learning and expanding human understanding. I returned to grad school at University of Michigan in 2002, completing a PhD in Philosophy and a MFA in Poetry. In the process, I also got married and had the first of my two sons. (And discovered that parenthood is even more challenging than gradschool!)

After completing my graduate work in 2009, I accepted a two-year post doctoral fellowship in Environmental Philosophy at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. When that was complete, I finally made it back to the West Coast for good, first to Portland, Oregon, and now here.

I live in Santa Rosa with my husband, my 2 elementary aged sons, a cat, and a dog. When not at work, I love reading novels, knitting, riding the bus, playing board games and parlor games and disc golf, and eating and preparing delicious vegan food. I am trying to learn how to play the piano again, with mixed results.