Allison is a botanist, environmental educator, and herbalist who has been teaching herb students through the Dandelion Herbal Center, Friends of the Dunes, and Humboldt State University for seventeen years. She holds degrees from Humboldt State University in Botany and Science Teaching. Allison coordinates the North Coast portion of the CA Regional Environmental Education Community and has been running a waste awareness K-12 education program, 4 R Planet, for fifteen years. She and her husband own Backcountry Press, a hiking and natural history field guide publishing company whose titles include Conifers of the Pacific Slope, Hiking Humboldt, and Wildflowers of the Trinity Alps. Allison and her family live on a redwood perch in Kneeland, CA