About Me

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I am a Farm Advisor Emeritus with UC Cooperative Extension in the Sacramento Valley, California. My work focuses on the value of habitat on farms for attracting natural enemies, like insect eating bats, to farms for biological pest control. I found that field edge habitat with flowering plants brings in more native bee pollinators and natural enemies, like ladybugs, beneficial birds, and bats, for better pollination and insect pest control in nearby crops. I've been studying bats for almost 30-years. I'm a graduate of UC Berkeley and UC Davis with degrees in biology and entomology and the recent recipient of the prestigious 2019 UC Agricultural Sustainability Leadership Award. I live on a farm with my husband, two dogs, and families of bats roosting in bat boxes that help control pests in our almond orchard. I'm the author of the Black Rock Desert Trilogy, including Gold Fever, Valley of Fire, and The River of No Return, that brings one into the world of bats in a high adventure story. These stories were inspired by our son Eugene, who heard these stories first and enjoyed them so much that I decided to write them down and share with others. Bats are good! Share the word!