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Meet Susie!
I am a freshwater ecologist, astacologist (study of crayfish), and outdoor enthusiast. Having been enamored with biology since age five, I am now a senior research scientist with the US Forest Service. I have researched freshwater organisms across the USA, studying trout and amphibians in Idaho and Montana and now diverse fish and crayfish in the southern US. I never imagined that earning a PhD would lead to me lying on Mississippi roadsides, shoulder deep in mud, extracting crawfish from burrows!
Whether working as a helitack firefighter and ski instructor, solo backpacking for three months in New Zealand and Tasmania, or conducting citizen science on poison dart frogs in Costa Rica, I live an adventurous life. And I enjoy helping other women find confidence in the outdoors. I had the idea for this book while in a large independent bookstore and perusing the aquatic books section, only to realize that all of the books were by or about men. I wanted to share the rarely-heard field stories of women biologists.
Co-editor of Wild Work, a new anthology of field stories from female biologists.
Wild Work out September 1, 2026!
Wild Work—Adventures of Women Field Biologists is a gripping collection of over 40 true stories by some of the courageous, dedicated women who work to study and protect the world’s wildlife and its habitats. From playing tag alongside wolves in the Arctic to wading up rivers filled with venomous snakes in Alabama, from evading poachers in Panama to surviving floods in Alaska, and from being attacked by bears to cuddling wild foxes, the women who lived these adventures have overcome fears, forged fierce friendships, and juggled field work with family life as they embraced the natural world.
Pre-order now anywhere you buy books! Learn more about the book here.