Rebecca A. Durham is a poet, botanist, and artist. Originally from the Connecticut River Valley of New England, she also calls western Montana home. She holds a B.A. in Biology from Colby College, a M.S. in Botany from Oregon State University, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing (Poetry) from the University of Montana. For the last eleven years she has been researching vascular plants and lichens at the MPG Ranch, a conservation research property. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Rebecca’s writing has appeared in Orion Magazine, Epiphany Magazine, Pilgrimage Magazine, Superstition Review, Mud Season Review, Meniscus, Pacific Review, Riverfeet Press Anthology: Awake in the World, Mantis, Bright Bones: Contemporary Montana Writing, Poetry Northwest, Exposition Review, Cold Mountain Review, Plants and Poetry, and Terrain.org. Winner of the 2019 Many Voices in Poetry Contest, her debut poetry collection Half-life of Empathy was published by New Rivers Press in October 2020. In July 2020, her manuscript was chosen by Susan Howe for the Marsh Hawk Press Rochelle Ratner Memorial Award and published by Shanti Arts in 2022. Her botanical art has been featured at the Montana Natural History Center and abstract acrylics at the E3 Gallery in Missoula, MT. Rebecca is pursuing her Doctorate in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Montana, immersed in poetry, environmental philosophy, and the more-than-human world. You may find more of her work at rebeccadurham.net