Where I Come From
With five generations of my biological family in Oregon, my roots run deep. I was adopted at four days old, and that is how I came to grow up in a small Kansas town. My adoptive parents owned newspapers and were Republicans – fiscally conservative with a strong social justice foundation, and they respected others with views different from theirs. I found my birth family when I was 23 years old, so I’ve been blessed to have two loving families. Sadly, my adoptive parents have passed, so wanting to live closer to family, I moved to the Rogue Valley. My birth mother lives in Merlin, so my son was able to be close to a grandma again!
My Education and Career
I went to college and graduate school, then started a career at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi. I earned a Ph.D. in preventive medicine and eventually became a full tenured professor of population health. I taught evidence-based practice, conducted cutting-edge research, and developed a software platform to improve population health. After 25 years with the University, I retired and set off for the Rogue Valley with my family.
Most of All…
I am the single mom of a wonderful son who’s now a sophomore in college. In addition, I am a small business owner, a small family farmer, a shelter volunteer, a land steward, a master climate protector, and an outdoor enthusiast. I love this beautiful place and am so grateful to live here. I feel a strong sense of responsibility for caring for the world we live in and firmly believe we should leave it better than we found it. Together, we can do great things.
A Lifetime of Involvement
I’m not one to sit on the sidelines and complain or wait for someone else to take action. I get involved quickly, engaging in causes where I feel I could make a difference.
At the University of Mississippi Medical Center, improving access to care and health outcomes, especially for our poorest citizens, became a passion. I took on Blue Cross of Mississippi to cover internal radiation therapy for breast cancer patients, making it possible for all women in Mississippi to get access to care that had been unavailable before.
I designed and developed a software platform called Mississippi Mapper — a web-based, custom mapping application that provides real-time data to health providers and citizens alike, highlighting trends and suggesting solutions. It is still in use.
Here in Jackson County, I have been learning about regenerative agriculture and land stewardship practices. I've worked with resources available to local farmers and ranchers, including the SOU extension office, the Jackson Soil and Water Conservation District, the Land Stewards Program, and the Talent Irrigation District (TID).
In response to threats to public health and safety, I organized a citizens’ group concerned with actions taken by a pig farm south of Ashland that involved zoning, land use, and permitting violations, improper waste management, unpermitted excavation causing destruction and erosion of a steep hillside, as well as contaminating waters of the state (the Ashland Canal of the TID).
Through that experience and others, I gained insight into the limitations of the Jackson County Planning Department’s efforts to enforce its own ordinances and protect county residents. I have seen firsthand how the explosion of illegal marijuana grows across the valley is competing for valuable water resources and threatening the quality of our lives.
I was involved in the Jackson County for All efforts to restructure the county commission, which led me to run for a seat on the Jackson County Board. While unsuccessful, I learned that many issues that our taxpayers care about need to be addressed at the state level. And that has led me to where I’m at today, a candidate for Oregon’s State Senate in District 3.