About your Coach

Christy McConnell, PhD

Published Author

Christy has published three books and over two dozen research articles in top international education journals. She focuses on ecological and artistic views of education.

Public Speaker

From Kuala Lumpur to British Columbia to Denver, Christy has presented internationally on her research and writing in education. Her dissertation won a national award in 2007, and she has been named a Master Scholar by her alma mater, The University of Denver. She has served on numerous national boards, including AATC and AERA Elliot Eisner Special Interest Group, and she has given professional development workshops in several Denver area districts, including DPS, CCSD, DCSD, and JeffCO.

Empathetic Mentor

For over two decades, Christy has worked with diverse high school, undergraduate, and graduate students to become gifted writers who use words to achieve their dreams. In addition to supervising dozens of capstone projects, Christy has advised over 40 doctoral students. She taught high school English for seven years and has been a professor of education since 2007. In 2025 she was awarded Distinguished Mentor by the American Association for Teaching and Curriculum.

Awakening Wildness: Reconnecting with Nature and Ourselves

Awakening Wildness nature experience book

Christy's new book is a personal narrative and guide for those who seek not just to walk in nature, but to be transformed by it.

Awakening Wildness illuminates how encounters with nature can transform grief into gratitude, isolation into reciprocity, and fear into reverence. This book reminds us that wildness is not a place we visit, but a place we inhabit and that inhabits us.

"Experience it. Savor it. Its message has the power to move mountains."

--Jayme Mansfield, Award-winning author and founder of Cowgirl Publishing

Coming October 1, 2026. Preorder Here!

Thank you for considering preordering Awakening Wildness. Your support helps the book reach wider audiences who are seeking ways to more deeply connect with nature.

Preorder Here

Praise for Awakening Wildness

"This compelling tour of experience invites us to look anew at the histories we carry, and beckons us to move toward ecological experiences that might awaken the wild within us. A must read for all who care about their relationships with nature and the world."

--Ben Ingman, PhD, Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota

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Writing for Your Life