Betsy Herbert
About Betsy's Work
Betsy Herbert is a freelance writer who completed her Ph.D. at UC Santa Cruz in environmental policy in June 2004. Her dissertation, entitled "Forest Management by West Coast Water Utilities: Influences and Consequences" analyzed forest policies and practices of public water utilities. She published her research results in 2007 in the journal of the American Water Works Association. A recipient of a Switzer Leadership Award in 2005, she served as community liaison to the town of Felton, California, facilitating the public acquisition of the Felton water system from California American Water. The San Lorenzo Valley Water District (SLVWD) successfully completed this public acquisition in 2008. She was employed as the environmental analyst at SLVWD until she retired in 2014. From 2001 - 2017, Betsy served on the board of Sempervirens Fund and chaired its Science Advisory Panel. From 2011 -2017, she authored a column for the Santa Cruz Sentinel, entitled "Earth Matters." In April 2015, she embarked on a year-long trip around the world, continuing to write for the Santa Cruz Sentinel about environmental topics of interest during her trip. In November 2017, she relocated to Corvallis, Oregon. Her articles are published on her website at http://www.betsyherbert.com