After graduating from Texas A&M University with a BS in biology I worked in Dallas at The Baylor Research Foundation, then moved to France and graduated from L’Institut Catholique with a Masters in French literature and French history. After moving back to the US in 1987 I lived in New York City where I was Managing Editor at Putnam Publishing and then Scholastic Publishing. While working I attended and graduated from The Swedish Institute. Then while developing a Licensed Massage and Physical Therapy practice specializing in craniosacral therapy and brain and spinal cord injury rehabilitation I participated in marathons and bike races.

Since 2014 I have served on the Texas A&M University Press Advancement Board—with Bill Reaves—and the TPWD Wildlife Diversity Advisory Committee. Will Harte and I co-produced The Lions of West Texas, The River and the Wall, and Deep in The Heart with Ben Masters; and Big Bend: The Wild Frontier of Texas with Skip Hobie. In 2020 Will and I produced Wildlife Killing Contests with Filipe DeAndrade, which won Honorable Mention in the Jackson Wild Film Festival. Together we support The Harte Research Institute for Gulf Coast Studies, The Nature Conservancy, Texas Wildlife Association, Borderlands Research Institute, Texas Ag Land Trust, Audubon, Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center, CASETA, Choose to Succeed, and the Belted Galloway Society. I recently joined the Ossabaw Island Foundation Board.

I became interested in Texas art because my grandfather is EM Buck Schiwetz, who in 1978 was designated a Texas State Artist. Through his artistic and architectural lens he taught me to purposefully explore, observe, and appreciate art and all living things.