Bio & Background

I was born the piedmont of North Carolina and raised in its mountains to folks from the state’s coastal plain. I hold a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where my dissertation won multiple awards for innovations in public and digital scholarship. While in graduate school, I was a Field Scholar at the Southern Oral History Program and taught classes at UNC-Chapel Hill on race, memory, and oral history.

My book, Potomac Fever: Reflections on the Nation’s River, is out now and is getting some very kind reviews. My essays have been twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize and included as a notable essay in The Best American Essays.

In addition to my academic background, I am also a forager, naturalist, and trained clinical herbalist. I teach American Studies & Environmental Writing at a boarding school in northern Virginia, and operate a small herbal practice for folks local to my slip of the Potomac River. I currently live in Glen Echo, Maryland, less than 700 feet from the banks of the Potomac. When I am not writing, reading, or teaching, I’m digging in the garden, botanizing by the river, or out on a trail run.