She grew up in Berkeley in the 1960s and 1970s and studied biology at Harvard and science communication at UC Santa Cruz. She has worked as a high school teacher, workshop leader, Q&A columnist, oral history interviewer, and freelance editor. As a volunteer activist, she has helped advocate for labor fairness, civil liberties. GLBT rights, and natural history education. She lives near the shore of Monterey Bay with her husband, poet Charles Atkinson. Read more on the publisher's website.