Joy Lamm Bannerman's life has been a series of explorations in many geographical settings, both exterior and interior. She was born by the tropical waters of the Gulf of Mexico, spent middle childhood in Europe, has deep roots in the Southern U.S., and has explored diverse wildlands as a medical botanist and ecologist. She now lives in the Sonoran Desert, having moved there from the Pacific Coast. Bannerman frequently returns to North Carolina and the Appalachian mountains where she has had a farm and raised her family. Whether as teacher and professor (University of North Carolina Asheville, Naval Postgraduate School), scientific and pharmaceutical researcher for new medicines, landscape designer for special needs children, musician and artist, or healer of horses . . a single spiritual grounding is reflected in the words she writes and the images she creates. This grounding also reflects a deep care for the land and the life it supports. In this latter capacity, she has consulted with governments - locally, nationally, and internationally -- and served as President of The Institute of Conservation & Culture. She has also created the Magic Marmalade children's program while a North Carolina Third Century Writer-in-Residence, continuing it in a variety of settings.