Welcome to my virtual office
Now, here’s the exclusive on me: I am a communications professional and an award-winning writer with 20 years experience working in daily newspapers, state government and the non-profit sector. Having spent 10 years in a newsroom, I am steeped in the principles of plain language communication–writing in a clear, concise and engaging way, and on deadline. In addition to being a freelance writer and editor for various publications, technical reports and Web sites, I am a project manager with a proven record of developing creative outreach programs and public education (awareness) campaigns.
Except for a brief stint in Washington D.C. and the year I spent in Istanbul, Turkey studying Turkish politics and economics, Washington state always has been my home. Before moving to Seattle recently, I spent 18 years in South Puget Sound, mainly inhabiting that gem of a place–Olympia. During my 10-year journalism career I wrote for The Spokesman Review, The Olympian, USA Today, Gannett News Service, The Seattle Times (freelance), and Sunset Magazine.
After leaving newspaper journalism in 1998, I went to work for the state Department of Health where I paired up with public health experts to edit reports, write speeches and educational materials and create displays related to community-wide health issues such as tobacco use, diabetes, cancers and communicable diseases. In 2001, I stepped into the role of communications director for the Washington State Redistricting Commission. There, I developed and guided a statewide public outreach campaign. Between 2002 and 2006, I was project editor for a journal-style report (state Department of Agriculture) distributed to nearly 30,000 farmers, ranchers and others statewide. The report focused on management efforts to counter the harmful effects of agricultural pests.
If I’m not researching, say, an exotic grass species colonizing the state’s wetlands (just one of several hundred invaders threatening native habitat); or writing about microscopic plastic particles awash in the world’s oceans (a huge, new eco-threat); or advising owners of a local yoga studio (tree pose – vrksasana – is one of my favorite asanas) about marketing strategies to grow their business, you will find me outdoors.
With dirt under my fingernails and a shovel in hand, I’ll be in my garden.
