Katherine Oubre is Associate Professor of English, Applied Liberal Arts and Sciences (ALAS) coordinator, and Humanities Department Chair at Western New Mexico University. She received her PhD from the University of Arizona in 2000 with a dissertation on contemporary American women’s nature writing. Her current research interests include American environmental literature, American Romanticism, and the novel. In addition to her passion for teaching, she enjoys walking, hiking, and backpacking in the glorious Gila National Forest with her husband Nick and their two dogs Bjorn and Betty.