Christina Devin Vojta grew up in the Pacific Northwest, in a family that loved hiking and backpacking. She graduated from the University of Washington and moved to Yosemite National Park where she worked as a ranger for over a decade. She and her first husband Mead Hargis spent three continuous years in Yosemite's backcountry—Little Yosemite Valley in the summer and Tuolumne Meadows in the winter.
Christina earned a Masters in Wildland Science at U.C. Berkeley based on research she conducted in Yosemite on American martens. Her study has become a foundational paper on habitat needs of this forest-dependent species.
After obtaining her Masters, Christina was the District Biologist for the Mono Lake Ranger District for ten years. During that time, she carried out research on home range and habitat use of Northern Goshawks. She also was a key player on an interagency team that reintroduced Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep to Yosemite.
Christina earned her Ph.D. at Utah State University, where she investigated the effects of landscape pattern on American marten. She also contributed to our understanding of landscape pattern metrics and how they perform under different landscape mosaics.
Christina was the Assistant National Wildlife Ecologist for the Forest Service for ten years. Although the position was directly linked to the Washington, D.C. headquarters, she worked out of the Rocky Mountain Research Station office in Flagstaff, Arizona. Subsequent to that position, she was the Science Coordinator for the Desert Landscape Conservation Cooperative, a position that enabled her to bring Mexican and U.S. land managers together to evaluate the effects of climate change on the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Deserts. She finished her science career as the Assistant Director for the Landscape Conservation Initiative at Northern Arizona University.
Since retiring in 2012, Christina has pursued her love of creative writing. Her knowledge of ecology and her lifelong experiences in the outdoors are reflected in all of her fiction and nonfiction works.
Twisted Trail is based on her own, five-hundred mile backpacking trip through Washington State on the Pacific Crest Trail. She developed the plot and wrote some of the novel during that adventure, using a Samsung tablet and small keyboard that she carried in her backpack.
Shadows in the Selva is based on three months in the Amazon rainforest of Peru. She learned about the culture and ecology of the region by monitoring an active Harpy Eagle nest, learning to harvest Brazil nuts, and living in the homes of two Peruvian families.
Christina's nonfiction pieces have appeared in Flyway Journal of Writing and Environment, Appalachia, Newfound, Common Ground Review, and other literary outlets. Her pieces have been selected as semifinalists by Creative Nonfiction, River Teeth, and Tahoma Literary Review.
Christina lives with her husband, Scott Vojta, in a house tucked away among the pinyon pines near Flagstaff, Arizona. In addition to creative writing, she loves to travel the world, hike, backpack, play the guitar and hammered dulcimer, birdwatch, and spend time with family. She serves as the Audubon steward for Kachina Wetlands.