Hi, I’m Betsy. I love to write, and I love to teach.

Writing and teaching have provided me with deep wells of discovery and curiosity, and I’ve been honored to work alongside fellow educators, mentors, students and seekers who’ve provided me with infinite inspiration. I have over 20 years of experience teaching English and language arts to high school and college students, and likewise over 20 years of experience working as an academic writer, editor, journalist, blogger, and poet. I earned my PhD in English from the University of Southern California in 2023. My most recent writing project is “New York, Shanghai and Seoul: The Host Cities of Sleep No More,” a chapter featured in Psychgeist: Sleep No More, a collection of essays I co-edited with Rachel Kowert to be published in January 2026.  

After spending my 20s and 30s wandering cities, I was called to the wild solace in Jackson Hole and Lake Tahoe. I now live in Santa Barbara with my husband, our two small children, and our first born, Zipper the dog.