Winner of 2026 John Burroughs Nature Essay Award
and
2025 Georgia Review Prose Prize for “Phantom Pains”
(Read the essay.)
I write and teach about landscape and resilience.
We express our understandings of nature through art, literature, science, and the landscapes we call home. I study these forms of expression for what they reveal—about what we believe, how we love and how we imagine, and why we struggle to understand that we, too, are part of the nature we grieve.
Through teaching, writing, and outreach,
I explore natural history, pursue hope, and seek healing.
RECENT & UPCOMING EVENTS
Fall, 2026
SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE
Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard Divinity School
Learn more: Transcendentalism as a Living Tradition Initiative
November 18, 2026
WHOSE STORIES DOES THE LANDSCAPE HOLD?
Featured Speaker, Panel sponsored by Thoreau Alliance, CSWR, and (Held at) Concord Free Public Library, Massachusetts
More Info Soon
October 23, 2026
THOREAU’S JOURNAL DRAWINGS: IN CONVERSATION WITH AUTHOR KATHLEEN KELLY
Sponsors: Concord Festival of Authors, Thoreau Alliance, Concord Art; Held at Concord Art, Concord, Massachusetts
Learn more here
September 26, 2026
‘CHILDREN OF THE FIRE’: A PROVOCATION
Presenter, Transcendentalism as a Living Tradition Workshop, Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard Divinity School
September, 2026
EXPLORING SPIRITUALITY IN NATURE WRITING: A WRITING WORKSHOP SERIES IN CREATIVE NONFICTION
Workshop Leader, Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard Divinity School
Register here: CSWR Calendar
July 26-August 1, 2026
WRITING OURSELVES THROUGH THOREAU: A WORKSHOP IN CREATIVE NONFICTION & MEMOIR
Workshop Leader, Monson Arts Center, Monson, Maine
Register here: Monson Arts Summer Workshops
Summer 2026
THE ENVIRONMENTAL LEGACY OF EMERSON’S NATURE
Teaching Faculty, Recipient of the 2026 Robert Frost Chair of Literature, Middlebury Bread Loaf School of English
June 11, 2026
FORUM on Ken Burns’ film, “HENRY DAVID THOREAU”: Sponsored by the Thoreau Society
Viewing of film selections & discussion with scholars featured in the film: Rebecca Kneale Gould, Rochelle L. Johnson, and Elise Lemire
Learn more here.
June 14, 2026
AWARDING of the 2026 THOREAU PRIZE IN LITERARY NATURE WRITING: HONORING ROSS GAY
Award Committee Chair, Thoreau Prize Committee
Register for the event here.
April 13, 2026
RECIPIENT OF THE 2026 JOHN BURROUGHS NATURE ESSAY AWARD
New York City
Learn more about the Award and Essay here.
February 27-March 1, 2026
THE BODY AS GROUND IN AN AGE OF ATTENTION
Workshop Leader, Middlebury Bread Loaf School of English Winter Institute
Bread Loaf Winter Institute
September 8, 2025
RECIPIENT of the OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN THE HUMANITIES AWARD from the Idaho Humanities Council
Read the award announcement here: idahohumanities.org/programs/outstanding-achievement-awards/
Summer 2025
WRITING THE BODY IN PLACE and THOREAU’S WALDEN: ON MATTER, NATURE, and MEANING
Teaching Faculty, Bread Loaf School of English
