Maria Judnick has spent many years in West Coast Conference schools - first as an undergrad at Loyola Marymount University for her BA in English, then as a graduate student at St. Mary’s College of California where she completed an MFA in Creative Nonfiction. (She also holds a MA in English from San Jose State University.) In addition to five years as the Digital Initiatives Coordinator at the San Jose State University Writing Center, Maria has taught in the English Department at SCU since 2013. She also has served as the Program Coordinator for seven National Endowment for the Humanities summer institutes for teachers (three on the writer John Steinbeck and four on the California immigrant experience). Named an SCU Sustainability Co-Champion in 2019 with colleague Matt Driscoll for their creation of ESS 95 (a course in which students from all disciplines become involved in SCU’s sustainability efforts), Maria has long been a friend and collaborator with the Center for Sustainability. In addition to her creative and academic publications, Maria volunteers as an editor for the EcoTheo Review, a journal celebrating ecology, spirituality, and art.