Rachel LaBranche
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| Outside the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D. C. |
I grew up as the oldest daughter of an Army officer. I was born in Germany and have lived all over the United States (including Virginia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Colorado, and California). My parents were great believers in exposing my younger brother and me to as much natural and American history as possible. It wasn't unusual for us to spend a weekend camping in the redwoods and the next hiking an active volcano.
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| On a cross-country trip - my father and me at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado. |
Writing novels is the first and foremost passion in my life. But I am also a science writer whose primary education has been in the broad topics of ecology, evolutionary biology, and conservation. I attended
Clark University, and I worked as a contractor to the
USDA surveying trees in Worcester, MA for presence of the invasive
Asian Long-Horned Beetle for two years.
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| In Anchorage, Alaska |
During the summers of 2008 and 2009, I worked for the Foster-Baker threespine stickleback lab doing field work in south-central Alaska. I helped start and maintain the Stickleblog, an ongoing account of the lab's research while in Alaska. The threespine stickleback is a little fish that is a fantastic example of evolution in action. And the details of the lab's fieldwork are always interesting and sometimes hilarious. Check it out!
I also keep a personal
blog where I often talk about my other writing.
