Since fall 2003, I’ve focused on teaching Technical Writing (Forestry 220) students to write simply, clearly, correctly, precisely, and concisely – skills all too rare today. Subjects range from writing a persuasive essay to presenting clear instructions to crafting a winning cover letter. Along the way, students learn tricks of the trade unknown even to many professional writers. The course also helps prepare students for the Upper-Division Writing Proficiency Assessment.
A journalist by training, I’ve written essays for The Washington Post; The Baltimore Sun; The Christian Science Monitor; and Victoria, Mountain Living, Montana Living, Retriever Journal, and Horse & Rider magazines. I’ve also produced feature stories for Practical Horseman, Performance Horseman, Montana Outdoors, and Gun Dog magazines and news and features for scores of regional newspapers. In addition, I edited the nonfiction books Wolf Wars and Montana Wilderness: Discovering the Heritage and for eight years was a news editor and writer at UM.
Away from classrooms and computers, I spend my time wrangling horses, Labrador retrievers, downhill skis, and far too many annual and perennial plants.
M.A. in journalism, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri
B.A. in English, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado
