MISSION: Southwest Research and Information Center is a multi-cultural organization working to promote the health of people and communities, protect natural resources, ensure citizen participation, and secure environmental and social justice now and for future generations

FRANCES ORTEGA

Frances Ortega has worked as SRIC's community liaison since 1990, principally on water quality, development, and health impacts of environmental pollution in communities of color in and near Albuquerque. She has a master's degree in environmental education and has directed SRIC's educational outreach. She volunteers at a local food co-op and with cross-cultural arts events, and she spends rare free time flyfishing.

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Frances Ortega's recommendations:

Land, Water, and Culture: New Perspectives on Hispanic Land Grants edited by Charles Briggs and John Van Ness (University of New Mexico Press, 1987). "This book sets the context for the relationship of people to land and water. It speaks to that idea from the perspective of egalitarian communities — land-based communities. If one didn't know about the subject of land grants, this is a good place to find out. It portrays the relationship of different cultures. I used this in school more than 10 years ago, but I still keep it as a reference. It's out of print and hard to find — everybody holds on to their copies dearly."

Living Downstream by Sandra Steingraber (Addison-Wesley, 1997). "This dense book connects science and local ecology, and places humans at the center of the ecology. Steingraber is — boom — in your face. Sometimes it's hard to get through the scientific data, but the book is so powerful. She's a Renaissance woman, a poet, and a scientist."

Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold (Oxford University Press, 1949). "Aldo Leopold wrote a lot here in New Mexico, places close to my heart, and the way he speaks of them are full of heart. He speaks of carrying capacity and sustainability seriously, of living by your own means, of having rules to practice in your own life. He focused on the anthropogenic impacts on natural resources and he was ahead of his time. The book is also beautifully written; one can read it for a better sense of wilderness and landscape. I often use it now to quote from."

Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams (Pantheon Books, 1991). "She's so great! She 'rocks' — she's a gem. What impressed me most after I read Refuge was how small I am in the grand scheme, and it made me think about the role of humans in the environment. The book is a piece of art, a beautiful vista, pristine."

Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey (McGraw-Hill, 1968). "I admit I don't especially like Abbey's books — such maleness! But I was spending time in the Grand Canyon, perfect time, and this is a book about silence and about finding balance and calm in our lives. A sense of that can be found in certain vast areas — like the Grand Canyon — when people are alone. I was alone, and I identified with this book. My favorite line of Abbey's: 'Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul'."

Other books recommended by Frances include Metropolitics by Myron Orfield and Borderlands by Gloria Anzaldúa.

Land, Water, and Culture: New Perspectives on Hispanic Land Grants Charles L. Briggs and John R. Van Ness, Editors New Mexico Land Grant Series University of New Mexico Press, 1987 (422 pages) Out of Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment Sandra Steingraber Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1997; Vintage, 1998 (paperback) (384 pages)	A Sand County Almanac Aldo Leopold Oxford University Press, 1949 (226 pages) In print (paperback only), reissued in 1991 by Ballantine Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place Terry Tempest Williams Pantheon Books, 1991 Vintage Books (paperback), 1992 (304 pages) Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability Myron Orfield Brookings Institution Press, 1997 (224 pages) Borderlands Gloria Anzaldúa Spinsters Press,1987 (203 pages) Also available in Spanish under the title La Frontera: The New Mestiza (Aunt Luke Books, 1999; 251 pages)
Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness Edward Abbey McGraw-Hill, 1968; Ballantine Books, 1971 (303 pages)	Search: All Products Books Popular Music Classical Music Video Toys Consumer Electronics Keywords:
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