Bette has loved hiking for as long as she can remember. She became a Wild Virginia hike leader in order to share the fun of spending time “playing outside” with others. She believes that the more people spend time in wild places like the George Washington National Forest the more they will feel the value of such places and know the importance of protecting them.

In the winter of 2010 Bette and her partner David Sellers spent three months living in the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park as volunteers for the Yellowstone Association Institute. They supported field seminars that the Institute holds at the Lamar Buffalo Ranch. Closer to home they are the trail maintainers for the Wildcat Ridge trail in Shenandoah National park.

Bette is a Virginia Master Naturalist, certified in wilderness first aid, and has recently become a Leave No Trace trainer.

She works in the Cell Biology Department at UVA studying the behavior of cells in early development using frog embryos as a model system.