EDUCATION
University of Southern Maine, 1989
B.A. English, Honors Program
summa cum laude
Radboud University 1987-1988
Nijmegen, the Netherlands
(English program exchange)
Languages: Mortifying French; Latin sine grammar; smattering of American Sign
PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS AND PRODUCTIONS (by genre)
BOOKS
Quirk: Brain Science Makes Sense of Your Peculiar Personality. 2011, Random House. Mice and humans share the fundamental elements of personality. Why? What’s so adaptive about being shy, or short-tempered? Foreign: Australia, UK, Canada, Korea, Russia, global Spanish; Japan pending.
The Well-Dressed Ape: A Natural History of Myself. 2009, Random House. A tongue-in-cheek description of the human animal as though it were any other creature, covering diet, reproduction, communication, etc. Foreign: Australia, UK, Canada, Holland, Korea, Turkey, China.
Suburban Safari: A Year on the Lawn. 2005, Bloomsbury. A survey of the urban ecosystem, revealing a surprising diversity of life. Entertainment Magazine’s “Best of 2005” book; One-Community-One-Book selection for The Towns of the Oxford Hills. Foreign: Korea.
The Secret Life of Dust. 2001, Wiley. A finalist for the UK’s Aventis Prize for Science Books, this title starts with space dust, and ends under the bed. Foreign: Australia, UK, Canada, Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Turkey.
DIGITAL (selected)
“Human. Nature.” Daily blog blending reporting and commentary on newly published research. Hit count averages 1500-2000/wk. (www.hannahholmes.net) —2009 to present
“Where Life Began.” Blogged live from a two week science cruise to the black smokers of the East Pacific Rise. Discovery.com, archived for rollout March, 2001.
“The Discovery Channel Adventure Race: A Southern Traverse partnership.” Blogged live while following maniacs through the Alps and swamps of the South Island. Discovery.com, Spring 2000.
“The San Andreas Fault.” Blogged live from a two-week schlep along the fault. Discovery.com, Spring1999.
“Spa Adventures: Seeking Nirvana in Neversink.” Blogged live from a weeklong assignment to a health spa. OnHealth.com, July 1999.
“Trouble in Paradise: On Montserrat, people share a island with an active volcano.” Blogged live for three weeks, on volcanology, plate techtonics, and geopolitics. Discovery.com, March 1998.
“Dinosaurs in the Dunes.” Blogged live for four weeks in the Mongolian Gobi, with the dinosaur-hunters of the American Museum of Natural History — and solar powered satellite phones. Discovery.com, July/August 1997.
“Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Hubble.” Blogged live from NASA’s JSC and KSC during the second Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. Discovery.com, February1997. (partial link)
“They Paved over a Corn Patch and Put in Paradise.” A hyperlinked, reader-directed presentation on agricultural anthropology in a Panama rainforest. Discovery.com, July1996.
“Weathering Heights.” A hyperlinked, reader-directed presentation on a winter visit to the Mt. Washington Weather Observatory. Discovery.com, March 1996.
Quirk trailer. A YouTube trailer is now standard for promoting a new book.
Virtual Author Reading. To exploit the e.mail platform I delivered a hyperlinked reading, complete with celebrity appearances and signed bookplates, to couches across America.
PERIODICALS (selected)
Features:
“Pet Rocks: The story of glacial erratics” (working title). National Geographic, scheduled for April 2012.
“Mini Messed-Up Me: Mice as our psychiatric stand-ins” (working title). Discover, scheduled for November 2011.
“My Dog Believes in God.” The Bark, September/October 2011.
“Flashy Kingfishers.” National Geographic, November 2009. (link)
“Dissecting the Dust Bunny.” NRDC’s On Earth, Winter 2003. (partial link)
“Immortal Oil.” Organic Style, July/August 2002.
“Becoming Everyone’s Beeswax.” American Airlines’ American Way, March 2002.
“Dusted.” NRDC’s On Earth, Spring 2002. (link)
“Salt of the Earth.” Organic Style, March/April 2002.
“Stardust.” Discover, September 2001. (partial link)
“Honduras: The Bay Islands bounce back.” AQUA, September 1999.
“Diving with Weirdos: Take a submersible down to a Pacific seafloor vent, and you might as well be on Mars.” AQUA, January 1999.
“What Dry Season? Thailand’s water festival.” AQUA, May 1998.
“The Lost Coast: Costa Rica’s hidden haven.” Escape, April 1998.
“Ridden a Fjord Lately? Scrambling Norway.” Escape, January 1998.
“Turkish Fantasia: off the wall in Cappadocia.” Escape, July 1997.
“We Be Jammin’.” Outside Magazine Family Vacations, Summer 1997.
“The Lizard Wizard: Chris Raxworthy hunts for herps in remote Madagascar.” Wildlife Conservation, April 1997. (partial link)
“The Cabbage Tour of Cuba.” The Maine Times, March 6, 1997.
“Mudhopping in Madagascar.” Sierra, January/February 1997.
“The Fire Down Below: Hot times in Iceland.” Escape, January 1997.
“Snowshoeing: Nature’s Stair Machine.” American Health, December 1996.
“Snow Fall.” AMC Outdoors, November 1996.
“Tooling in the Taiga.” Escape, October 1996.
“Madagascar’s Haunting Melody.” Los Angeles Times Magazine, October 13, 1996. (link)
“Guardians of Summer.” The New York Times Magazine, July 21, 1996.
“Are Rain Forests Resilient?” Profiles, July 1996.
“The Battle of the Bug.” Backpacker, April 1996.
Reprinted: Rodale’s Family Camping, Summer 1996.
“Stairways to Heaven: Walking the five lands of Italy.” Women’s Sports + Fitness, April 1996.
“The World’s Worst Weather: Life atop Mt. Washington.” EcoTraveler, March/April 1996.
“Attack of the Icky Diseases: Rabies. Hantavirus. Flesh-eating bacteria. How great is the threat to your health?” Women’s Sports + Fitness, March 1996.
“Dipped, Whipped, and Waltzed: If you think ballroom dancing is wimpy, think again.” Women’s Sports + Fitness, January/February 1996.
“In His Problem Solving Boots: Politely but firmly, the Casco BayKeeper wades into dirty waters.” Island Journal annual magazine, 1996.
“Cross-Country, Across the Country: Maine.” Los Angeles Times, December 10, 1995.
“The World According to GORP.” Backpacker, December 1995.
“They Deliver: These wilderness angels are a lost hiker’s saving grace.” Women’s Sports + Fitness, October 1995.
“Prose and Cons.” Profiles, December 1995.
“Outside Inn.” EcoTraveler, November/December 1995.
“Developing Wetlands.” Profiles, November 1995.
“Promenades with Polar Bears.” EcoTraveler, July/August 1995.
“Reading for Pleasure.” Healthy Woman, Summer 1995.
“And Please, No Flash Pictures of the Blob.” Outside, March 1995.
“Waste Exchanges Help.” Safety + Health, January 1995.
“The Unequal Burden: The onus of controlling fertility is not women’s alone.” Habitat, Winter 1996.
“Mind Over Batter.” Rodale’s Healthy Woman, Winter 1995.
Reprinted: Prevention, February 1995.
“How to be a Real Woman.” Rodale’s Healthy Woman, Winter 1995.
“Search and Rescue.” The Walking Magazine, December 1994.
“Ready, Aim, Rest in Peace.” Outside, November 1994.
Animal Instinct: Secrets from America’s foremost tracking school.” EcoTraveler, September/October 1994.
“Pajama Flap.” Parenting, October 1994.
“These Green Streets.” AMC Outdoors, October 1994.
“Monhegan by Lamplight.” Yankee, September 1994.
“Tough Love: One woman’s odyssey through peril and pleasure in search of the perfect prophylactic.” Rodale’s Healthy Woman, Summer 1994.
“Home, Toxic Home.” Rodale’s Healthy Woman, Summer 1994
“Eco-Salvation Via Lifecycle Analysis.” Safety + Health, July 1994.
“Bioregions Require Broadened Boundaries.” Safety + Health, May 1994.
“How to Prepare for an Environmental Audit.” Safety + Health, May 1994.
“The Green Pet Owner.” Animals, March/April 1994.
“The Ethics of Outerwear: An irreverent guide to clothing in the age of the politically correct.” The Maine Times WinterGuide 1994.
“Unplugged.” Sierra, September/October 1993. (link)
“Living Where You Live: Bioregionalists reinvent ‘home.’” MS, September/October 1993.
Columns:
“The Skinny On…” Bi-weekly column using off-beat subjects (asparagus pee, baby pigeons, traffic jams) to introduce science fundamentals. Discovery.com, ~1997 to 1998. (link)
“Gone.” Shared travel column, filed live. “To Turkey Underground,” “To an Alien (Ice)land,” “To Thailand,” “To Cuba,” “Madagascar Mud Wrestling.” Discovery.com, 1996 and 1997.
“Ecology Flash.” Monthly round-up of environmental news, tips, book reviews. Self, ~1994
Book Reviews:
“In Defense of Garbage.” The Washington Monthly, July/August 1993.
“Gesundheit!” The Wilson Quarterly, Autumn 2007. (partial link)
BROADCAST (selected)
“Human Mating Rituals.” Wrote, directed and presented a four-minute “walk and talk” video on for Discovery Channel Canada. – 2009
“Silly Science.” A three minute segment on Live Science!, a Discovery Channel “web TV” show hosted by Neal Conan of NPR. – 2000
“Operation in Orbit.” Script for a 52-minute documentary covering NASA’s second Hubble servicing mission. – 1998 (link)
“Green in Winter.” Three-minute radio piece for NPR’s “Living on Earth.” — 1996. (link)
Various commentaries. Maine Public Radio.
COPYWRITING
While not the highlight of my career, I always discuss this with students. For a freelance writer, it’s a lucrative option that can underwrite other projects. I’ve written or edited environmental reports; a corporate annual report and awards ceremony scripts; and product copy for a home décor catalog.
EMPLOYMENT (quite comprehensive, actually)
Associate Editor, Garbage Magazine. This was a cheeky antidote to environmental hand-wringing of the early 1990s. Featuring practical solutions and a common-sense tone, it lasted about as long as that cycle of public concern. – 1990 to 1992
News Editor, Casco Bay Weekly. This was Maine’s entry in the “alternative newsweekly” trend then sweeping the nation. We were idealists with our heads on fire and no health insurance. – 1989 to 1990
Correspondent, Portland Press Herald/Evening Express. My sophomore year of college I worked full time covering four suburbs of Portland for the state’s biggest daily paper. – 1985 to 1986
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
“Meet the Authors” Course, Maine Women’s Correctional Center. As one of the authors, I designed exercises, and helped to direct discussions and workshops. – 2011
Haystack Writer’s Retreat, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. Three day intensive, “The Arts of Nonfiction.” ~2008
“The Arts of Nonfiction.” Workshop at “Effective Practices Conference,” for Maine teachers of writing. Belfast, ME, ~2008.
“Ten things to do with an English degree.” Guest lecture: University of Southern Maine, Kathleen Ashley, PhD, ~2008.
Guest Lecture: Boston University Department of Journalism, Profiles class, Amy Sutherland, MA, ~2007.
Guest lecture: Franklin & Marshall College. Nonfiction writing class, Jeffrey Steinbrink, PhD, ~2007.
INVITED PRESENTATIONS (omits libraries, domestic book festivals, etc.)
“Dust-Related Title TBD.” Desert Research Institute, Reno. Scheduled for April, 2012.
“Dust-Related Title TBD.” University of Nevada, Reno. Scheduled for April, 2012.
Perth International Arts Festival, 2010. (Had to cancel for injury.)
“Nonfiction Writing.” Keynote speech for “Effective Practices Conference,” for Maine teachers of writing. Belfast, ME, ~2008.
“Meet the Neighbors: An introduction to the urban ecosystem.” Keynote, Garden Clubs of Maine annual meeting. Augusta, ME, 2007
“Nonfiction Writing.” The Writer’s House, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, ~2007.
“Anatomy of a Dust Bunny.” Cheltenham Literature Festival. Cheltenham, UK, 2003.
“Live from the Middle of Nowhere: The perilous path to a writing career.” Special Lecture, SALT Institute for Documentary Studies. Portland, ME, 2003.
“Live from the Middle of Nowhere: The benefits of reporting from the field.” Dinner speech, National Institute of Standards and Technology conference: “Best Practices for Communication of Science and Technology to the Public.” Gaithersburg, MD, 2002. (Transcript.)
“Dust: What You’re Missing in the Clean Room.” Featured speaker, NASA Goddard Engineering Colloquium. Greenbelt, MD, 2002.
“Environmental Assumptions: bursting the bubble.” Soap and Detergent Association Annual Meeting. Boca Raton, 1993.
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Ladies’ Toast & Boast Society, a salon for Maine media women — Co-Founder
