Freelancing is a hard hike in a tough terrain of competition. This is by way of saying don’t expect a lot here. One advantage of freelancing is following your passion – writing about what moves you, not just what’s assigned by an editor (the disadvantage is lack of a steady paycheck). It’s said a good writer writes about what s/he knows, but I’ve always written about what I want to know. Like, life, the universe, and everything -- but especially forests, because forests should rule the world if the world was sane.

09/15/2022

Presentation: A Sedimental Journey: Tracking Historic Dirt Downstream

Using archival photos and my forest forensics photos of clues to the history of my own beloved woods – and far beyond – I presented a webinar for the Forest History Society (Duke University), “A Sedimental Journey:  Tracking Historic Dirt Downstream.”  This presentation greatly expands the one I gave in 2021 for the Friends of the North Fork.  If you think forest history hasn’t had consequences that continue today, take a look at your local creek after […]

05/19/2022

Author’s Chat: Corridors for Wildlife, at Barren Ridge Vineyard

Participated in an “Author’s Chat,” (not recorded) with Paul Bugas, at Barren Ridge Vineyard, cohosted by Stone Soup Books of Waynesboro.  A major topic was the increasing interest in developing habitat corridors to save wildlife – and people.

05/04/2022

Reading: Grateful Dead-heading

I read my essay, “Grateful Dead-Heading, A Gardener’s Revelation,” from the book Better With Age, to students in a Lifelong Learning Institute course taught by book editors Bob Bersson and Jack Greer. 

You can read the essay here. 

04/02/2022

Presentation: Forests for Life

Presented “Forests for Life” to the American Association of University Women, at Bridgewater Retirement Community (not recorded).  

05/02/2021

A Sedimental Journey: How Historic Deforestation Degrades Waterways Today

 I was invited to give this presentation by my watershed group, Friends of the North Fork Shenandoah River.  In “A Sedimental Journey: How Historic Deforestation Degrades Waterways Today,” I use a forensics approach to find clues to history – and its long-term consequences – in our forests and streams today.  The word “Legacy” usually means something good received from the past, or created for the future.  “Legacy sediments” literally muddy this concept and are revolutionizing our understanding of truly […]