Ruby McConnell (she/her) is a writer, geologist, and explorer whose work centers on outdoor advocacy, place, and examining the relationships between the landscape and the human experience. Her work has appeared in scientific journals and outlets including Alta Journal, Huffington Post, Mother Earth News, Oregon Humanities, Grain Literary Magazine, Atlas Obscura, and LitHub, and was awarded an Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship in 2016. She is the author of the critically-acclaimed outdoor engagement series A Woman’s Guide to the Wild, A Girl’s Guide to the Wild, and My Nature Journal and Activity Book. Her collection of place-based personal essays, Ground Truth: A Geological Survey of a Life, was a finalist for the 2020 Oregon Book Awards. Ground Truth, along with her 2024 creative nonfiction book, Wilderness and the American Spirit, were listed among Ms. Magazine’s Best Reads. You can almost always find her in the woods. @rubygonewild www.rubymcconnell.com
photo credit Robert Williams