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REBECCA CONRAD LAWTON
P.O. Box 654, Vineburg, CA 95487-0654
becca@beccalawton.com • www.beccalawton.com

SUMMARY OF EXPERIENCE

Rebecca Conrad Lawton is an author and natural scientist whose writing explores nature, human and otherwise.  Her literary honors include the Ellen Meloy Fund Award for Desert Writers and three Pushcart Prize nominations—in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.  Her memoir, Reading Water: Lessons from the River, was a San Francisco Chronicle Bay Area Bestseller and ForeWord Nature Book of the Year finalist.  She is co-author of three additional books on creativity and the outdoors.  She was a professional river guide in Arizona, California, Idaho, Utah, and Oregon for many seasons, working ten years in Grand Canyon.  With photographer Geoffrey Fricker (http://www.geofffricker.com), she is working on a book on the Sacramento River basin for Heyday Books (www.heydaybooks.com).

Rebecca’s work as a scientist has focused on the movement of sediment and water.  Her first technical study, published by the University of Wyoming in 1977, was among early efforts to consider dinosaur bones as transportable particles in Jurassic rivers in Utah.  Her recent research includes the study of sediment in tributaries to San Francisco Bay and is helping to inform state guidelines on loads of silt and sand in California streams.

EDUCATION

  • M.F.A., Creative Writing. Mills College, Oakland, CA. May 1993.
  • B.S., Earth Sciences. University of California, Santa Cruz. December 1976. Honors in thesis.

AWARDS AND HONORS

  • Resident Fellowship, The Island Institute.  Sitka, AK.  September 2011.
  • Poetry Award, 21st Annual Mendocino Coast Writer’s Conference. 2010. For “Passage,” “Where I Grew Up,” and “Burying the Barn Owl.” Judged by Alison Luterman.
  • Writer in Residence, Hedgebrook Retreat for Women Writers. Langley, WA. 2009.
  • First Place, Poetry Competition, Redwood Writers Branch of California Writers Club. Santa Rosa, CA. 2009. For “Journal.” Judged by former Sonoma County Poet Laureate Terry Ehret and incumbent Poet Laureate Mike Tuggle.
  • Finalist, David Nathan Meyerson Fiction Prize. Southwest Review, Southern Methodist University. Dallas, TX. 2009. For “The Road to Bonanza.” Judged by Alice Hoffman.
  • Finalist, Chautauqua Fiction Prize. 2009. For “The Wish.” Judged by David Crouse.
  • Desert Writer Award. Ellen Meloy Fund. Bluff, UT. 2006.
  • Residency Awarded, Mesa Refuge. Oakland, CA. 2006.
  • Finalist, Nature Book of the Year Award. ForeWord Magazine. Traverse City, MI. 2003. For Reading Water: Lessons from the River.
  • Personal Essay Award. Tiny Lights Publications. Petaluma, CA. 2001. For “Scalping the Games.” Judged by Susan Bono.
  • “You Are Here,” Sonoma County Writing Award. Sebastopol Center for the Arts. Sebastopol, CA. 2000. Judged by Elizabeth Carothers Herron. For “Questions for the Creek.”
  • Poetry Award. Utah Wilderness Association Review. Salt Lake City, UT. May 1993. For “Ghost of a River.”
  • William Warner Henry Writing Award. Mills College, CA. April 1993. For “On the Whiteness of the Whale.”

PUBLICATIONS

Books

  • Reading Water: Lessons from the River.  Sterling, VA: Capital Books.  2002.  Released in paperback in 2004. San Francisco Chronicle Bay Area Bestseller in 2008; ForeWord Nature Book of the Year finalist in 2003. 

Books as Co-Author

  • Discover Nature in the Rocks, with Diana Lawton, Susan Panttaja, and Irene Guidici Ehret.  Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.  1997.
  • On Foot in Sonoma: Twelve Walks in the Valley of the Moon, with Arthur Dawson.  Glen Ellen, CA: Kulupi Press.  2004.
  • Write Free: Attracting the Creative Life, with Jordan E. Rosenfeld.  Glen Ellen, CA: BeijaFlor Books.  2008.

Short Fiction

  • “Change of Heart,” the Acorn. El Dorado, CA: El Dorado Writers' Guild. 1995.
  • “Only Water,” performed by Page on Stage, Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park, CA: Glaser Center and KRCB Radio 91.1 fm. 2006.
  • “Sandstone,” THEMA. Metairie, LA: THEMA Literary Society. 1995. Also in Walking the Twilight II. Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Publishing. 1996.  Edited by Kathryn Wilder.
  • “Sipapu,” in Milk & Ink: A Mosaic of Motherhood Anthology. Outskirts Press, 2010. Edited by Alegra Clarke.

  • “Steelies,” Connotations.  Sitka, Alaska: The Island Institute.  forthcoming 2011.

  • “The Middle of a River in Flood,” Standing Wave. Prescott, AZ. 1997.
  • “The Road to Bonanza,” Midway Journal, www.midwayjournal.com. 2011. (Nominated for 2011 Pushcart Prize.)
  • “The Wish,” Perigree: Publication for the Arts. Vol. 7, Issue 3. www.perigree-art.com. Guest fiction editor: Lawrence Lawson. April 2010.
  • “What I Never Told You,” Walking the Twilight. Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Publishing. 1994.  Edited by Kathryn Wilder.

Poetry

  • “Bastion,” Adirondack Explorer.  Saranac Lake, NY: Getting the Word Out, Inc.  2011.
  • “The Bed,” Milk and Ink. New Zealand: Outskirts Press. 2010
  • “Boatwomen,” in Still Crazy, A Literary Magazine. Worthington, Ohio. 2011.
  • “Cougars and Mr. Redford,” Sonoma Poets Collection II. Sonoma, CA: Hilltop Publishing. 1995.
  • “Ghost of a River,” Review. Salt Lake City, UT: Utah Wilderness Association. 1993.
  • “Journal,” Sonoma Valley Sun. Vol. VI, Issue 27. Sonoma, CA. October 9, 2009.
  • “Night Noise,” Community Poetry Anthology, Festival Edition. Sonoma, CA: da Rosa Events and Readers Books. 1996.
  • “Passage,” “Where I Grew Up,” and “Burying the Barn Owl,” Todd Point Review. Mendocino, California: College of the Redwoods. Edited by Maureen Eppstein. 2010.
  • “On Hearing About Ted,” the Acorn: a journal of the Western Sierra. El Dorado, CA: El Dorado Writers' Guild. 1995. (Nominated for 1995 Pushcart Prize.)
  • “Seen Near Loma,” Standing Wave. Prescott, AZ. 1997.
  • “What’s So Feminine about a Mandolin?” in Traditional Music Issue of Shenandoah: The Washington and Lee University Review. Lexington, VA: Washington and Lee University. 2006.

Articles, Essays, and Chapters

  • “Addressing the Sediment Problem in Sonoma Creek Watershed” (with D. DiPietro, L. Collins, and A. Dawson).  Napa, CA: Napa County Watershed Symposium. 2011. 

  • “American Art,” “Moon River,” and “A Reluctant Geologist Writes about Rocks,” read on Word by Word. Rohnert Park, CA: KRCB Radio 91.1 fm. 2005.
  • “The Art of Starting Over,” More. NY: Meredith Publishing. July/August 2006.
    “Book Case,” “War Zone,” and “Wingin’ It,” in “Open Mic,” Northern California Bohemian. Santa Rosa, CA: Metrosa, Inc. 2000 and 2001.
  • “The Company of Rocks,” Orion. Great Barrington, MA: The Orion Society. November/December 2005.
  • “Down to Earth,” “Dynamic Duo,” “Growing with Expert Systems,” “Heavy Metals,” “Out of the Woods,” additional articles. Penn State Agriculture. University Park, PA: Penn State College of Agriculture. 1988.
  • “Early History of the Tuolumne River Canyon,” Interpretive Guide to the American, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne Rivers. Berkeley, CA: Pacific Rivers Outfitters Association. 1975.
  • “Eating Stone,” review of Eating Stone: Imagination and the Loss of the Wild, by Ellen Meloy. Torrey House Press Original Book Reviews, www.torreyhouse.com, April 2011.
  • “Estimating Sediment Production for the Sonoma Creek TMDL” (with L. Collins and A. Dawson). Oakland, CA: State of the Estuary Conference. 2007.
  • “Faith in the Dry Season,” Tiny Lights. Petaluma, CA: Tiny Lights Publications. 2001. (Nominated for 2001 Pushcart Prize.) Also in Reading Water: Lessons from the River. Sterling, VA: Capital Books. 2002. Reprinted in There’s this River: Grand Canyon Boatman Stories. Second Edition. Flagstaff, AZ: This Earth Press. 2006.
  • “Fear and Loathing on the Upper Yampa,” Wasatch Sports Guide. Salt Lake City: Mills Publishing. 1984.
  • “Felling the Trees,” San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco: Hearst Corporation. July 22, 2006.
  • “Headwaters,” The Gift of Rivers: True Stories of Life on the Water. San Francisco: Travelers’ Tales. 2000.
  • “Imbrication,” Word Tastings. Summerland, CA: Santa Barbara Review Publications. 1998. Excerpted in A Woman’s Passion for Travel. San Francisco: Travelers’ Tales. 1999.
  • “In the Oasis,” Tiny Lights. Petaluma, CA: Tiny Lights Publications. 2005.
  • “A Look at Watershed Health: Developing the Sonoma Creek Scorecard,”
    with Caitlin Cornwall, Deanne DiPietro, Mark Newhouser, and Alex Young. In Proceedings 28th Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference and the 44th Annual American Fisheries Society Cal-Neva Conference, Fisheries Restoration and Science in a Changing Climate. www.calsalmon.org. 2009.
  • “Measuring Sediment in Jack London’s Streams, Sonoma Creek Watershed, Sonoma County” (with K. Camacho). Oakland, CA: State of the Estuary Conference. 2005.
  • Media Lounge Reviews of The Earth Knows My Name, a book by Patricia Klindienst, and The Fragile Edge, a book by Julia Whitty. Sierra. San Francisco: Sierra Club. May/June and July/August 2007.
  • “Monitoring Suspended Sediment Concentration and Turbidity, Sonoma Creek Watershed, Sonoma County” (with J. Tribo). Oakland, CA: State of the Estuary Conference. 2003.
  • “On the Colorado River,” 365 Travel. San Francisco: Travelers’ Tales. 2001.
  • “Possession,” San Francisco Chronicle Magazine. San Francisco: Hearst Corporation. 2006.
  • “Scalping the Games,” Tiny Lights. Petaluma, CA: Tiny Lights Publications. 2003.
  • “Some of My Best Friends,” Sonoma Woman insert in The Press Democrat. Santa Rosa, CA: The Press Democrat, part of The New York Times Company. September/October 2006.
  • “Take the ‘C’ Train,” Sonoma County Women’s Voices. Sebastopol, CA: Women’s Voices. May 2004. Also in Reading Water: Lessons from the River. Sterling, VA: Capital Books. 2002. Reprinted in A Mile in Her Boots: Women Who Work in the Wild. Palo Alto, CA: Solas House. 2006. Also reprinted in Art, Literature, and Place: An Ecopoetics Reader. Toronto: Canadian Journal of Environmental Education. Volume 13 (2). 2008.
  • “Taphonomy of the Dinosaur Quarry, Dinosaur National Monument,” Contributions to Geology, volume 15. Laramie, WY: University of Wyoming. 1977.
  • “The Tongue,” The Best Women’s Travel Writing, 2006: True Stories from Around the World. Lucy McCauley, editor. Palo Alto, CA: Travelers’ Tales. 2006.
  • “Volunteer Monitoring of Suspended Sediment Concentration and Turbidity, Sonoma Creek Watershed, Sonoma County, CA” (with R. Hunter and J. Menze). Advances in Science and Restoration in the Bay, Delta, and Watershed. CALFED Science Conference. January 14-16. Sacramento, CA. 2003.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

  • Presenter, The Island Institute.  Sitka, AK.  2011.

  • Presenter, Write Free Creativity Series. With Jordan E. Rosenfeld. Bodega Bay, CA. 2010.
  • Presenter, Redwood Branch of California Writer’s Club 2010 Series, Petaluma, CA. 2010.
  • Literary Judge, Annual Personal Essay Contest. Tiny Lights Magazine. Petaluma, CA. 2005 to present.
  • Member, Technical Advisory Committee, Sonoma Ecology Center. 1998 to present.
  • Literary Judge, Annual Sonoma Valley Writing Faire. Sonoma, CA. 1998 to present.
  • Presenter, Redwood Branch of California Writer’s Club, First Annual Conference. Santa Rosa, CA. 2009.
  • Presenter, Literature Readings on “Control,” SOMArts Cultural Center. San Francisco. 2009
  • Presenter, Creativity and Education Series. Copperfield’s Books. Petaluma, CA. 2009.
  • Presenter, Mendocino LitFest. Mendocino Community College. Ukiah, CA. 2009.
  • Presenter, Writer’s Sampler Series. Sebastopol Center for the Arts. Sebastopol, CA. 2005 and 2009.
  • Literary Judge, Sense of Place Poetry Competition. Kulupi Press. Glen Ellen, CA. 2005 to 2008.
  • Presenter, Sonoma County Book Fair. Santa Rosa, CA. 2003, 2006, and 2008.
  • Presenter, Deep Storytelling and Nonfiction, Mendocino Coast Writers Conference. Mendocino, CA. 2007.
  • Member, Technical Advisory Committee, Laguna de Santa Rosa. Santa Rosa, CA. 2007.
  • Presenter, Writing with Nature. Writers Forum. Petaluma, CA. 2006.
  • Literary Judge, Bay Area Middle School Poetry Out Loud Contest. Berkeley, CA. 2006.
  • Facilitator, Writer’s Retreat, Wellspring Renewal Center. Philo, CA. 2002 to 2006.
  • Presenter, Women on Writing Conference, Skyline College. San Bruno, CA. 2005.
  • Lecturer, Self-Discipline Series, Pleasanton Public Library. Pleasanton, CA. 2004.
  • Presenter, Science and the Environment Series, Rocky Mountain College. Billings, MT. 2003.
  • Member, Earth Stewards Committee, Sonoma First Congregational Church. Sonoma, CA. 2002 to 2003.
  • Presenter, Sonoma County Literary Salon. Petaluma, CA. 2002.
  • Poet-Teacher, California Poets in the Schools. Sonoma, CA. 1996 to 2002.
  • Literary Judge, On Water Contest, Sebastopol Center for the Arts. Sebastopol, CA. 1999.
  • Presenter, Sonoma Writer’s Circle, Sonoma Community Center. Sonoma, CA. 1998.
  • Leader, Poetry and Spirituality Workshops. Sonoma First Congregational Church. Sonoma, CA. 1994 to 1997.
  • Presenter, Women in Grand Canyon, Friends of the River Conference. San Francisco. 1995.

WORK EXPERIENCE

  • Geologist & Director of Programs, Nonprofit Watershed Group, 2000 to present, SONOMA ECOLOGY CENTER, Sonoma, CA.
  • Project Geologist, Geological Consulting, 1996 to 1999
    HARDING LAWSON ASSOCIATES, Novato, CA.
  • Technical Editor and Writer, Geological Consulting, 1989 to 1996
    HARDING LAWSON ASSOCIATES and RESNA, Novato and Fremont, CA.
  • Science Writer and Editor, Education and Research, 1986 to 1988
    PENN STATE UNIVERSITY, University Park, PA.
  • Park Ranger and Technician, Research and Recreation, 1984 to 1986
    U.S. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, Grand Canyon, AZ, and Dinosaur, UT
  • Wilderness Leader (Seasonal), Guiding and Interpretation, 1973 to 1983
    AMERICAN RIVER TOURING ASSOCIATION, Oakland, CA
  • Staff Geologist (Seasonal), Geological Research, 1979 to 1983
    U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY and R&M CONSULTANTS, CA and UT

SPECIAL TRAINING

  • Full Spectrum Foundational Coaching and New Leadership Training. Joan Oakden-Parsons. Napa, CA.
  • Standard First Aid. Life Medical Training. Novato and Sonoma, CA.
  • Wilderness First Aid. Sixteen-hour course. Foster Calm. Sonoma, CA.

PUBLICATIONS ABOUT MY WORK

  • Teal, Louise, 1996. Breaking into the Current. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press.
  • LaBastille, Anne, 1980. Women and Wilderness. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.

ASSOCIATIONS

  • Author’s Guild
  • California Certified Small Business
  • California Poet in the Schools
  • Toastmasters International

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