I'm a Pennsylvania-based freelance writer, editor, and author specializing in science, health, and the environment for children and adults. My articles have been published in Odyssey, Spider, Today's Science, Research Penn State, and more. My book credits include over a dozen children's books published by Enslow, The Child's World, and Cherry Lake. During the past year I've been researching and writing a book on the demise and revival of the American chestnut tree, a proposal that won the 2011 Anna Cross Giblin award from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
Before becoming a writer, I worked and trained as a scientist. I earned my doctorate in cellular and molecular biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and conducted research as an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellow at UW and Penn State. My research credits include Science, The Journal of General Physiology, Plant Physiology, and more.
When I'm not at my computer, I'm a serious home baker, an avid gardener, an occasional hiker, and a homeschooling mom. The rest of my time is spent searching for the cup of coffee I put down somewhere.
I write from my home in State College, a fun town in a valley of the Appalachian mountains of Pennsylvania, where I live with my musician husband, Rick Hirsch, three spirited daughters, and a feisty cat.