Executive Director of Bluff Lake Nature Center, a nonprofit agency that owns and manages a 123-acre urban wildlife refuge and outdoor classroom in Denver. Bluff Lake educates individuals to be engaged, resilient, and curious; conserves a natural area in the city; furthers equity in outdoor access; and nurtures the health and well-being of communities and ecosystems.

For the Summer 2024 issue, Rachel recommended The Eight Mountains: A Novel, Paolo Cognetti, Washington Square Press, 2019, 224 pages.

For the Spring 2024 issue, Rachel recommended The Vaster Wilds: A Novel, Lauren Groff, Riverhead Books, 2023, 272 pages.

For the Winter 2023-2024 issue, Rachel recommended The Snow Child: A Novel, Eowyn Ivey, Reagan Arthur Books (Hardcover), 2012, 400 pages.

For the Autumn 2023 issue, Rachel recommended The Wall, Marlen Haushofer, (first published 1963), New Directions, 2022, 248 pages.

For the Summer 2023 issue, Rachel recommended The Summer Book, Tove Jansson (Translated from Swedish by Thomas Teal), New York Review of Books (paperback), 2008, 184 pages; and Wild Child: Nature Adventures for Young Explorers―with Amazing Things to Make, Find, and Do, Dara McAnulty (writer) Barry Falls (illustrator), The Experiment, 2023, 64 pages.

For the Spring 2023 issue, Rachel recommended Clean and White: A History of Environmental Racism in the United States, Carl A. Zimring, New York University Press, 2017 (paperback), 288 pages.

For the Winter 2022-2023 issue, Rachel recommended Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, 2015, 408 pages.

For the Autumn 2022 issue, Rachel recommended Growing Mindful: Explorations in the Garden to Deepen Your Awareness, Joann Calabrese, Llewellyn Publications, 2021, 272 pages.