Dr. Ann & Dr. Betsy's India adventure

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Dr. Betsy and Dr. Ann get ready to depart for India...

Neither of us has ever visited India before, and we are looking forward to sharing this month-long adventure. We've put you on our email distribution list, and hope you will follow our travels through this website. We're packing up now, getting ready to go. More after we arrive at our first destination. . . on about January 7.

Background
Dr. Betsy (Betsy Herbert, Ph.D.) and Dr. Ann (Ann Aurelia Lopez, Ph.D.) met as grad students in Environmental Studies at UC Santa Cruz in 2000. Both avid enviros, we took off in different directions, directed by our passions, but we always found great joy in sharing our stories. The more we learn, the more we find that everything really is connected...sometimes in strange and unpredictable ways!

My dear friend Dr. Ann is a teacher, a published author, and is truly dedicated to improving the lives of farmworker families. She recently published her book, The Farmworkers Journey (UC Press, 2007). For more about her work, see her website: http://www.farmworkerfamily.org. Much of her work involves long stays in Mexico, but she also focuses on the California central coast.

My passion is the nexus between forests and water, and I serve on the board of Sempervirens Fund, the oldest land trust in California (http://www.sempervirens.org). I also work as the environmental analyst for a local water utility. For the past three years, I served as the water district's community liaison to the little town of Felton, in an organized joint effort to acquire the town's water system from the giant corporation California-American Water. The effort finally succeeded in 2008! (for details, see http://www.feltonflow.org).

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Photos

Dr. Ann Aurelia Lopez working in Mexico
Dr. Ann visits with a farmworker family

Dr. Betsy Herbert working in the redwood forest
Dr. Betsy is interested in protecting forest and water resources, especially in the redwoods of California