van gelder was born in 1969 in manhattan. as daughter of american museum of natural history curator richard van gelder, she spent periods of her childhood involved in field work with him in east africa and in the u.s. national parks. from 1985–1989 she worked for the quebec-labrador foundation teaching environmental education in outport communities in eastern canada. later she taught high school in northern new jersey and left in 1998 to pursue a phd in place studies at the union institute and university for which she was the recipient of the sussman award. her work in place studies appeared in a number of journals including the journal of implicit religion, nature in story and legend, green letters, as well as within the monograph" weaving a way home: a personal journey of place and story" published by the university of michigan press 2008.