Bio

In 2016, after working in the environmental field for more than fifteen years, I left my cubicle and dragged my husband and three sons to Colorado, my birthplace and heart’s home, where we spent six weeks hiking through the mountains. From this experience I wrote Uphill Both Ways: Hiking toward Happiness on the Colorado Trail, a memoir about escaping the disappointments of midlife while forging connections with nature and my family in the wilderness, due out from Bison Books in 2022.

Through my writing, I explore the connections between humans and nature, embrace the extremes of motherhood, and confront the emotional effects of environmental degradation. My 2018 essay “The Sparrow’s Song” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Other essays have appeared in Orion, Snowy Egret, The Maine Review, Zoomorphic, About Place Journal and other publications. My short stories have been published in Brain, Child Magazine, Saltfront, and the This Side of the Divide anthology, among others.

I'm a Maine Master Naturalist, a member of the Maine Master Naturalist Program board of directors, and the chair of the MMNP Diversity, Equity, Inclusiveness, and Justice workgroup. I also teach workshops in nature writing and nature journaling at venues around Maine, and I'm a senior editor and co-editor of the Literary Reflections department at the online journal Literary Mama.

I have a BA in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Maine's Stonecoast program. I live in Maine with my family.

Senior Editor & Literary Reflections Editor

I send out a monthly email newsletter with a short essay, links to recent publications and upcoming workshops, and updates on my forthcoming book. Subscribe today and receive my illustrated essay "Eleven Ways to Raise a Wild Child."

Contact Andrea