Sandra Noel grew up on the east coast and moved to Washington State with her son Summers over 25 years ago, falling in love with its temperate rainforests, mountains and waterways. She lives with her husband Bill and running buddy Archie the Mini-Schnauzer on Vashon Island in the shadow of Mount Rainier. Here, as an environmentalist, Buddhist, artist and distancerunner, she finds inspiration, solitude and miles of trails. While living on this island, she found another in Indonesia,in the course of helping the Alliance for Tompotika (ALTO), a nonprofit conservation organization working in eastern Sulawesi. She contributes her artistic and design skills in the development of community education and fund-raising projects for ALTO and has had the opportunity to teach art and ecology workshops for young people in the region. Her poems have appeared in Paradigm, Barnwood International Poetry Magazine, ProtestPoems, Pontoon, Buddhist Poetry Review, Outside In Literary and Travel Magazine, Elohi Gadugi Journal and others, and chapbook intitled, The Gypsy in My Kitchen, Finishing Line Press.