We appreciate the regular contributions to Tucson Green Times from these professional writers and photographers:
Mary Ackerley MD, MD(H)
Dr. Mary is a classically trained Harvard and Johns Hopkins board certified psychiatrist. She specializes in the natural treatment of depression, ADD, anxiety, bi-polar disorder and menopause. Her holistic approach empowers patients with the confidence and education they need to make informed choices about their conventional treatment.
Lili DeBarbieri
A freelance writer specializing in travel, environmental issues and wildlife, Lili’s writing and photography have appeared in dozens of publications in the U.S and abroad, including Terrain Magazine, Montana Naturalist, Abroad View, Alabama Living, and E/ The Environmental Magazine. She has more than five years experience working, studying, volunteering, and traveling extensively throughout Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania, the Middle East, and the Americas. Based in Arizona, she is a contributing editor to Ethical Traveler.
Susan Feathers
Susan is founder and executive director of Write For Change, a non-profit organization specializing in creating social change through professional writing – whether for grant narratives, newsletters, marketing, or white papers on special topics. She also blogs online. Susan lived in Tucson for 10 years before recently moving to Florida, and remains a desert devotee. A founding member of Sustainable Tucson, her career in educational settings includes middle school and high school science teacher; special education, and environmental education at outdoor centers including the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum where she served as Director of Education. She has published a book of nature essays, Paean to the Earth, as well as articles in journals and magazines about the environment and nonprofit development.
Gretel Hakanson
Gretel is a freelance writer and editor specializing in sustainability and green building. She lives with her husband, three dogs, a cat and a horse in a solar-powered Tucson historic home. When she’s not writing or editing, she can be found hiking, mountain biking, or horseback riding in the desert.
Jan Henrikson
Jan is inspired by the abundance of people she talks to who are exploring new ways to nourish themselves and the planet, whether it’s through laughter yoga, creating peace through art, or shifting our consciousness about aging. A freelance writer, writing coach and editor, her articles have appeared in numerous national and local magazines and she is editor of the book Eat by Choice, Not by Habit, by Sylvia Haskvitz. Jan loves hiking and biking a la the Harley Davidson through the mountains of Tucson and beyond with her beloved, Bruce.
Melanie Lenart
Melanie is an environmental scientist and writer who focuses on climate change, forests and other natural systems. She has a Ph.D. in Natural Resources and Global Change (2003) from the University of Arizona, a master’s degree in forestry (1992) from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, and a bachelor’s degree in journalism (1984) from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. In the 1980s through mid-1990s, she worked primarily as a newspaper reporter and copy editor, including at Puerto Rico’s English-language daily newspaper, The San Juan Star, and several papers in the Chicago area. Since then, she has continued to report on climate change and its impacts for a variety of venues, including Landscape Architecture and Nature Reports Climate Change. The University of Arizona Climate Assessment for the Southwest published a collection of two dozen of her feature articles in a 2007 book compilation, Global Warming in the Southwest. Her book, Life in the Hothouse: How a Living Planet Survives Climate Change, will be published on Earth Day (April 22) 2010.
James MacAdam
James draws on his experience as a writer, educator, sustainability professional and spiritual student to create writing that bridges the world of inner human experience with the external realities of nature and society. He finds inspiration in spiritual teachings, nature, and in a vision of green cities where humans live in harmony with each other and the natural world. By day, James manages a program to green southwestern neighborhoods and cities at the Tucson-based nonprofit Watershed Management Group. By night and on weekends he explores the wilds of the natural southwest, the wilders of its concrete jungles, and the wildests of his inner consciousness. James lives in Tucson with his fiancé, Rachel, and their pretend dogs Ubu and Uba.
James M. Patrick
Originally from Chicago, James has called Tucson home for nearly two decades. Prior to developing a passion for photography, he began his career as a journalist, working as a staff writer and editor for a variety of publications. He holds a bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Arizona. Currently focusing on commercial and editorial photography, James’ work has appeared in a variety of national and local newspapers, magazines, trade journals, and advertisements. He has been recognized by the University of Arizona with two awards in journalism: The Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Journalism and the John P. Clum Award for Outstanding Journalism on the Tombstone Epitaph. He also was named the Inside Tucson Business Up & Comer of the Year in local business (2008). James is the immediate Past President of the Tucson chapter of Toastmasters International, is on the Board of Directors of the Tucson Chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers, is Vice President of Ad2 Tucson, and Secretary Officer for the Southern Arizona Architects and Engineers Marketing Association.
Alan M. Petrillo
Alan is a journalist (and former New York reporter, editor and firefighter), who writes full-time from Tucson for national, regional and local magazines and newspapers. His work has appeared in Woman’s Day, Popular Science, American Profile, American Style, Arizona Highways, Scottsdale magazine, Arizona Foothills, American History, Tucson Lifestyle, and Alaska Airlines magazine, among others. He’s the author of the historical mystery, Full Moon, five books about antique arms, and one about the court system in New York. His short fiction, “A Gift for Details,” was published in the mystery anthology, Medley of Murder, and “Desert Secret” in Map of Murder, both published by Red Coyote Press. In addition, his short fiction, “Beginning Again” and “Burn Unit,” have appeared in the Writer’s Post Journal, with “Burn Unit” winning the “Best Short Story in 2006.”
Patti Podgornik
Patti holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A writer, astrologer and sustainable living consultant, she uses a unique blending of moon and seasonal cycles, along with mythology and archetypes, to create unique moon and astrological consultations that offer balanced insights into life. She also studies partnership, ancient wisdom, being green and living a simpler, sustainable lifestyle. Patti and her daughter have created several special volunteer projects that help children in the community.
Jacqueline A. Soule, Ph.D.
An American-trained botanist and writer based in Tucson, Jacqueline teaches workshops on plants and writes science and garden articles. She has been using, growing, researching and writing about herbs for over three decades. She received a Ph.D. from the University of Texas in 1993, with a dissertation on Tagetes, the marigold genus, working with noted synantherologist, Billie Lee Turner. Since 1997, Jacqueline has served as director of the non-profit Tierra del Sol Institute, and divides her time between directing the Institute, writing, and conducting outreach programs. She has co-authored a number of books on herbs and Southwestern landscape plants, three of them published through Ironwood Press. She writes regular gardening columns for six southwestern newspapers.
Gene Zonge
Gene moved to Tucson in 1969 from Fairbanks, Alaska, where he was born. He earned a bachelors degree in electrical engineering and his MBA from the University of Arizona. He has been a community gardener in Tucson for three years and the executive director and administrator of the Community Gardens of Tucson since the summer of 2009. Under his leadership, that all-volunteer non-for-profit gardening group has grown from four to nine gardens and from 60 gardeners to over 200 gardeners.
