I was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1950, and I am the oldest of four daughters. My great-great grandparents immigrated to the west with the wagon trains in the mid 1800s, and I have a deep love for and attachment to the northwestern United States. It is home, no matter where I work.

I went to public schools in Portland and attended state universities in Oregon. Although it would have been wonderful to have attended a prestigious university I believe that we educate ourselves and that one can obtain an excellent self-directed formal education within the more affordable public system.

I have always wanted to know how things are connected and how things work and I have always been fascinated by places. In grade school and high school I loved what was then called "social studies" and I knew that I wanted to work abroad (at that time I thought I would work with an American embassy).

When I entered college I took the standard requisites plus math and science courses because I felt I needed stronger skills in these areas. Then I discovered that I could combine my interest in places with the math and sciences in a discipline called Geography. I became interested in physical geography, particularly in climatology, and more particularly in high latitude climatology. Terms like permafrost, solarfluxion lobes, pingoes, tundra, grease ice, Pleistocene, Inuit, sastrugi, and patterned ground fascinated me and I completed my degree in this discipline.

As a child I read books about the northwest and about far away places. One of the first adult books I remember being fascinated by was Thor Heyerdahl's expedition account, KON TIKI. I still have this book. The Journal of the National Geographic Society (known simply as the National Geographic) was delivered to our house every month for years, courtesy of my grandparents, and with it a vivid visual exposure to the world in photographs and maps. When I was about 12, my father gave me a book about a remarkable expedition to the Antarctic commanded by Ernest Shackleton. I learned many years later, when I myself was working in the Antarctic, that Ernest Shackleton and I have the same birthday, February 15.

After completing college I sought work with the contracting company for the US Antarctic Research Program. I learned that women were not allowed employment on "the ice." Soon after that disappointment I was hired as a physical sciences technician for the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory on Point Barrow, Alaska. And that was the beginning of my involvement in polar research. From 1975 until 1991, I was employed in the field in the Alaskan Arctic, in the Antarctic (by the late 1970s women were allowed to work on "the ice") and in Greenland. I did snow and ice work as a field scientist, and program and facility management. Few females worked in the field and I often encountered resentment and prejudice. But I also worked with wonderful people investigating fascinating things and I got to see some of the most exquisitely beautiful places on earth.

By 1991 I decided I should create a life at home, so I sought employment that would allow me to buy a house and be near my sisters, parents and two young nieces. I now work as a physical scientist with the Bonneville Power Administration. I model the Columbia River drainage system for studies that evaluate regional hydro-electric power generation capabilities. The studies I do are required by the Columbia River Treaty. The Columbia River originates in Canada and the treaty between the US and Canada enables international coordination of the river for flood abatement, power generation and wildlife habitat requirements. I miss the polar field work and I get tired of spending so much time at the computer. Life is less exciting without polar deployments, but in many ways it is easier.

I do have a code, so to speak, by which I live and work and I do have some advice for young people who might be interested in science careers.

Apologies to William Shakespeare, but I do believe that there are more things to heaven and earth than our philosophies have dreamed of. I believe that there is freedom in discipline, that there is "no free lunch," and that all things are connected. I believe that one thing leads to another, that if you are looking for something you might find something else and that such serendipity is the essence of science.

I believe that one needs a direction so that one can change directions, and I believe that art, science and philosophy (including theology) are inseparable. I believe that science must be ethical and moral and cannot tolerate cheating, and I believe that what is ethical and moral and fair will always be debated.

Study the sciences and math in school, but also study philosophy and art and history. Read and write. Listen and ask questions. As you get older you will develop more and more confidence in yourself--even if you don't think that you are confident. Trust that you will make good decisions based on what you know at the time a decision must be made. Believe in your ever growing intuition.

Know who did what before you (always conduct literature reviews). Respect what came before you, but find out and think for yourself. Value what is accepted to start learning, but at the same time ask, "What if?" One "what if," leads to another "what if" and it may turn out that what was long accepted as true is completely wrong, or short or long.

Understand that in America science is a business and that you must be prepared to handle budgets, requisitions, overheads, grants, policies, and politics. One of the most sensible partnerships I knew was that of a chemist and an oceanographer. One was very extroverted and liked policy and politics and had the ability to obtain funding. The other managed and conducted the actual field science.

One more thing . . . for most of us a computer cannot match the power of pencil and paper in contact with the brain by arm and hand. This remarkably productive system is totally portable and doesn't require batteries or a generator. It requires only your imagination.

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