I am a field geologist with over thirty years of field experience in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, where a fascination with donkeys in rural areas evolved into a quest to fulfill a long-forgotten childhood dream of owning one.

I earned a B.S cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and an M.A., M. Phil., and PhD in Geological Sciences from Columbia University.  My fieldwork on earthquake hazards and archaeological settlement patterns in Alaska and Chile is featured in the internationally broadcast, award-winning PBS series “Fire on the Rim.”

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 I am Professor Emerita of Earth Sciences at the City College of New York and have switched to writing fulltime. I live in the lower Hudson valley of New York with my oceanographer husband, Joe Stennett. Caleb the donkey boards nearby with fifty horses and ponies, where he continues to steal the show every day.