From a young age, I was interested in science and math. So much so, at my elementary school graduation I stated that I wanted to earn a master’s degree in engineering, without really understanding the kind of path I set myself on. I took my AP science and Honor math courses, did the necessary extracurriculars, and followed a path that was set for me to get into a four year university. The privilege of entering the UC Santa Barbara campus to study Chemical Engineering, while learning how to navigate the world on my own is something that I don’t take for granted. However, it is here where my original path began to shift away from its set course.

My interests shifted away from the man-made sciences, and seeded in Geology - a natural science that encompasses the Earth’s processes that change over time. I still have a deep love of Chemistry and would later on be delighted to learn about the complex chemistry of soil science and nutrient cycles, but let’s not jump too far ahead. I left UC Santa Barbara with the academic skill sets rooted in Earth Sciences and Chemistry, and with the social skills to communicate, collaborate, and share information.

In an attempt to route myself back onto the ‘set path’, I continued on with higher education instead of entering the job market, to earn a master’s degree in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Southern California. Here I reveled in the all the concepts revolving around design, fluid flow processes, and critical thinking.

With how I set myself up on the Home Page, I am sure the Petroleum came as a bit of a surprise. Its difficult to explain in a few simple sentences because we are all complex humans guided by different parental, societal, and internal forces - similarly like all other life on Earth. However, entering that space has provided a perspective that is key in pushing forward environmental, climate, and social justice work that is firmly resolute in balanced and ethically acceptable processes. And the five years I fought to be taken seriously as a petroleum engineer, who happened to be a lady, unveiled the truth about systemic social issues within large monopolized corporations and their willingness to sacrifice people for profits - and getting away with it for decades. This experience shined a new light on my early memories of Al Gore and climate change, and initiated a pivotal shift towards my true purpose in life.

My eyes traced the paved path I set for myself as a 10 year old child, realizing that it wasn’t for me, and maybe was never for me, but it was all I had known at the time. Without guilt, I finally looked beyond the edges of the paved path, past the hip-high bunch grasses, towards braided streams emptying out into pools and ponds, shaded by large canopies of trees that added height and depth to the landscape. I took my first knowing steps off my paved path with both trepidation and fierce determination.

I began to investigate and learn about the natural engineering systems and scientific principles that guided Earth before humans evolved beginning with Permaculture and Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Then I targeted my focus on Texas ecology, geology, and hydrology. Nature walks with my pup allow me to slow down and watch the natural sciences and processes take place in real time. Volunteering under Permaculture and Native Plant Restoration Programs are chances to be creative solving site or base condition challenges and also to work with the hardiness of Texas Native Plants.

Meanwhile, my spouse and I are in the process of restoring a plot of overgrazed land in Central Texas to the woodlands of the Post Oak Savannah and the inland prairie of the Blackland Prairies. Check out the Blog page to learn more about this process!