My Story

Since childhood, I’ve always felt a special connection with nature.  I grew up hiking, camping, and canoeing in a small Central Pennsylvania town along the Appalachian Trail. At age 11, I was outraged when a beloved grove of chestnut trees in my hometown was clear-cut and paved for a parking lot (yup, just like the Joni Mitchell song!). Recently, my mother showed me an essay I'd written back then in which I declared that when I grew up I wanted to “turn parking lots into playgrounds.” This passion for nature has led me down interesting and varied paths. After earning my B.A. from Brown University and J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, I worked at a large Philadelphia law firm and then served as regional advisor for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation & Natural Resources, helping to fund and create parks and trails.  I raised two beautiful kids, followed by a job as general counsel at a regional land conservancy. I went on to run a nonprofit that advocated and raised funds for a state park. After that, I hung out my legal shingle and had a decades-long practice focused on preserving wildlife habitat, saving family farms, and counseling environmental nonprofits. While doing that, I also volunteered for a dozen years as vice president of Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park Commission, where I helped draft the city’s first park protection ordinance and successfully led negotiations to save a number of threatened open spaces and historic buildings. I’m honored to have received PennFuture’s “Woman of Lifetime Achievement in Conservation” awar​​d. I had lots of fun along the way too, including co-hosting a public television show about sustainability, writing articles about the great outdoors for newspapers and a glossy coffee table magazine, teaching land conservation law, and even writing songs. (I'm proud to have won a statewide award for my song commemorating the 50th anniversary of Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment!) In my enthusiasm for the outdoors, I even dragged a few friends on an Outward Bound canoe trip to celebrate a big birthday, camping at night on the rocky islands in the Delaware River.   In 2017, I started the Philadelphia Environmental Film Festival, bringing outstanding new environmental films, world-class filmmakers, and creative youth film programs to the region. The film festival grew into One Little Earth, the nonprofit that I now run. One Little Earth funds access to nature for underserved youth and supports and distributes kids' books that inspire a love of the outdoors. I'm a member of SCBWI and Inked Voices and in 2024 was awarded an Honorable Mention by PB Rising Stars for my picture book biography about a female botanist.  I serve as a judge for the Green Earth book awards, selecting the very best environmental books for children published each year. I also serve as an editor for The Little Press for its new line of nature-themed children's books. And, of course, I'm writing my OWN kids' books, too! A FAMILY FOR ZOYA: THE TRUE STORY OF AN ENDANGERED CUB is my debut picture book, with others coming out soon. Because to quote Jane Goodall:  "Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care will we help. Only if we help, shall all be saved.”