She resides in Great Barrington, Massachusetts where she does research on mosquito genetics at the Wadsworth Center, Division of Infectious Diseases, New York State Department of Health in Albany, New York.
[2] She has traveled to Guatemala, Venezuela, Florida, Vermont and Massachusetts, conducting research on insects that transmit pathogens.
Before taking up her current work on population genetics of malaria-carrying mosquitoes in South America and Africa,[4][5][6] she was a recognized expert on the genetics of Black fly (Simulium) species vectoring river blindness (onchocerciasis) in Central America.
[7] She has won numerous awards and major travel grants related to poetry, including a CBC Literary Prize, the inaugural P.K.
[8][9] In 1987, her book The Fabulous Disguise of Ourselves was shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Award, as was South of the Tudo Bem Cafe, in 1991.