Debbie S. Miller

Debbie S. Miller grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. She loved climbing trees, watching animals, and hiking in wild places such as Yosemite National Park. The natural world inspired her to write at a young age. After obtaining her teaching degree, Debbie moved to Alaska with her husband, Dennis. The call of the wild beckoned them from the freeways of California. Debbie enjoyed teaching in Arctic Village, one of the most isolated Gwich'in communities on the south side of the magnificent Brooks Range. For the past 45 years, Debbie has loved exploring the wilds of Alaska and studying its great diversity of wildlife. Alaska has been the foundation and inspiration for all of her writing. Her first wilderness adventure book, Midnight Wilderness (Sierra Club Books, 1990) describes the wonders and natural history of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge based on 14 years of explorations. Many of her many nature books for children, such as Survival at 40 Below (Walker/Bloomsbury, 2010) and Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights (Walker/Bloomsbury, 2003) have been recognized as Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children by the National Science Teachers Association and Children's Book Council (NSTA/CBC). Debbie enjoys speaking in schools across Alaska and America, sharing her nonfiction books and programs with teachers and students of all ages. She loves working with teachers and inspiring students to explore the natural world and write their own stories. She has visited schools in 24 states. Debbie also likes traveling to other wild regions of the world, such as Australia, where she recently studied some fascinating marsupials, reptiles, and birds described in her desert book, Survival at 120 Above. For her most recent adult book, A Wild Promise (Braided River, 2018) Debbie spent five summers exploring the spectacular world of Prince William Sound which has the largest concentration of tidewater glaciers in North America. "It was truly a joy to work on this project with photographer Hugh Rose." Alaska will always be a home that Debbie cherishes along with her two grown, beautiful daughters who still enjoy hiking, fishing and camping with her. She currently lives in Sitka, Alaska, where she can see the spouts of humpback whales out the living room window, and bears and deer wandering through the berry bushes.