Resume available upon requestAbout Me
I’m a Seattle-based freelance writer and editor with an avid interest in biology, biomedicine, ecology, green technology and unconventional travel destinations. After shifting course from a career in microbiology, I’ve accumulated two decades of journalism experience and written for more than 30 publications ranging from The New York Times to Cancer Cytopathology. Before becoming a journalist, I received my PhD in microbiology from the University of Washington. For my doctoral dissertation, I analyzed a protein that helps ferry sugar into bacterial cells, making it a potential model for studying similar proteins linked to cystic fibrosis and multi-drug resistance to cancer.
I subsequently received a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and interned at The Californian in Salinas, California, and at Newsday in Melville, New York. In 2000, I accepted a staff position at Newsday as a member of the science desk, where I spent the next seven years writing extensively about genetics, stem cell research and cloning, evolution, ecology and conservation.
While at Newsday, I was one of four principal writers on the award-winning, 13-part “Long Island: Our Natural World” series, which we converted into a field guide. I also wrote “Saving Bobby,” a multiple award-winning, 12,000-word feature about the frantic effort to save a toddler whose father had accidentally driven over his head.
Since 2007, I’ve been a freelance writer and editor (see a list of my other writing and editing services here). In my spare time I enjoy photography, singing and renovating the 1906 Craftsman house where I live with my husband, Geoff, and our energetic boxador, Piper.
Awards
Apex Grand Award for “The case for empathy,” Cancer Cytopathology, 2018
Bricker Award for Science Writing in Medicine, Honorable Mention, 2017
Apex Grand Award for “In debating the right to die, a shift in tone among physicians,” Cancer Cytopathology, 2016
National Institute for Healthcare Management (NIHCM) Foundation,
Health Care Print Journalism Award Finalist, “HM@15” Series, The Hospitalist, 2012
Association of Health Care Journalists Awards,
First Place in Large Newspapers & Wire Services Category for “Saving Bobby,” Newsday, 2007
Deadline Club Award,
Best Feature Reporting in Newspapers & Wire Services Category for “Saving Bobby,” Newsday, 2007
New York Press Club Award,
Best Web Exclusive Content, “Saving Bobby,” Newsday, 2007
Press Club of Long Island Award,
Best Online Multimedia Reporting, “Saving Bobby,” Newsday, 2007
Newsday Publisher’s Award,
Feature Reporting, “Saving Bobby,” Newsday, 2006
Press Club of Long Island Award,
Coverage of West Nile Virus, Newsday, 2005 and 2001
Newsday Publisher’s Award,
Team Enterprise Reporting, “Our Natural World” Series, Newsday, 2003
Fellowships & Presentations
National Tropical Botanical Garden Environmental Journalism Fellowship, 2008
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Science Writing Fellowship, 2002
Arizona State University Reynolds Center for Business Journalism,
“Covering the Green Economy” Seminar, Presenter, 2010
Affiliations
Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ) Member
Association of LGBTQ Journalists (NLGJA) Member
National Association of Science Writers (NASW) Member
Northwest Science Writers Association (NSWA) Member
Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) Member
