About the Author Janie Chodosh

Author Janie Chodosh

Author Janie Chodosh. Photo by Anne Staveley.

As an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, Janie majored in “all things interesting,” a list which included courses in biology, ecology, natural resources management, creative writing, and poetry. After college, she moved to Yosemite National Park where she worked as a naturalist and educator and learned to rock climb, backcountry ski, and entertain herself with nothing more than a field guide, a trail, and a pair of binoculars.

Later, as a graduate student in the University of Montana’s environmental studies program, the list of “all things interesting” expanded to include Spanish and environmental education.

Janie Chodosh child photo

Picture of me as a kid in upstate New York, holding seed to attract chickadees.

For her thesis, she traveled to a rural community on the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico to develop an environmental education program focusing on neo-tropical migratory songbirds (a fancy title for birds that breed in the north and winter south of the border). She later moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico to work as the education director for the state Audubon Society and later as a teacher.

When not writing, Janie loves to hang out with her family, rock climb, try to grow a garden in the arid southwest, bird watch, muck around in cool places, travel, and attempt to play Klezmer music on her violin.