"I drove into the city late at night, so although I knew there were mountains around me, I had not seen them in the distance. What I did see as I exited the canyon was a sparkling spiderweb of streetlights in front of a velvet night and a lovely full moon. The next morning as I looked out my hotel window I was confronted with a mountain - not something way off in the distance or in a picture but a close up, craggy, majestic, rocky mountain. After that I was hooked on Albuquerque."
Rose and her daughters, Carolyn and Melissa, learned to love the desert southwest and the diversity of cultures and interests you can find there. Her best friend, Elaine, lives in a house in town that was powered by solar panels. Wanting to know more about this, Elaine introduced Rose to the New Mexico Solar Energy Association.
"I believe the best way to learn something is to get involved with the people who already do it." Rose became a board member with
NMSEA, eventually taking on the roles of President, then Executive Director. She created and originally managed a sustainable energy and living educational fair called the Solar Fiesta, still in existence
today. Rose met her future husband, Tom while working for Albuquerque Flight Service. Together they purchased a large parcel of land in southeastern New Mexico where they are using
sustainable practices to build their home. A large part of the property will be left pristine for wildlife, but another section is destined to contain wind and solar energy generation systems that will be tied
into the utility grid. Gardening has been a passion since the age of 10, so it is no surprise that Rose also took the training and volunteered the hours to become a Master Gardener. Her contacts in that
organization also gave her access to education about beekeeping. As of May 2008 she set up her first hive and happily engages in harvesting honey and wax. Rose has worked as an Air Traffic Controller in the Center, Tower and Flight Service Specialties. When flight service was privatized in 2005, she continued working at Albuquerque
Flight Service under the management of Lockheed Martin. "I enjoy the pilots I work with, and will spend extra time with students so that they can start out their relationship with the Air Traffic System
in a positive manner." Though she had been writing articles related to the environment for various magazines, she did not begin writing in her primary field of aviation until January of 2006. At this
time she has columns in 9 monthly and 3 quarterly publications, as well as 4 online aviation websites. She has been a member of the Southwest Writer's Association since January of 2006, and became a board member in 2008. Using their many programs to refine and expand
her writing abilities, Rose is applying her experience and talents to her upcoming books. Rose's book on solar cooking will be distributed in its 6th edition beginning in November. Rose's degree was in Non-Profit organizational management and having worked with and for over 20 non-profits it is no surprise that her next book deals with managing
fundraising events. Still in the planning stages is a book that will focus on giving pilots an insight into the air traffic control system. It will be called Air to Ground after the type of
radio frequencies used in aviation communication.