Bio

Jacqueline Windh grew up in Mississauga, Ontario. From her earliest childhood, she was interested in nature and the outdoors. She started collecting rocks and minerals, and learning their names as well as their uses and origins, while in first grade. She received her first camera at the age of eleven, and through her teens had aspirations of becoming either a nature photographer or a scientist.

She started with the scientific route, enrolling in the Geology program at McGill University (Montréal) in 1983. She completed one year of her studies away on exchange, at San Diego State University (California). Jacqueline graduated from McGill with her BSc (Hons) in 1987 and was awarded the Logan Gold Medal for finishing first in her class.

Jacqueline worked as an assistant exploration geologist in both the mining and petroleum industries during the summers while studying, and for six months after finishing her degree. Then she moved to Australia to pursue graduate studies. She enrolled in the PhD program at Macquarie University (Sydney) to study structural controls on saddle-reef gold mineralization at Hill End, NSW, at the end of 1987, but after a year was forced to abandon the study due to logistical problems with the project.

In early 1989 she commenced a new doctoral project at The University of Western Australia (Perth), studying regional structural controls on gold mineralization in central Western Australia. She completed her thesis, entitled Structural Controls on Gold Mineralization in the Lower Proterozoic Glengarry Sub-basin, Western Australia, and was awarded her PhD, in 1992.

Jacqueline worked as a geological consultant to the mining industry, specializing in structural controls on mineralization, interpretation of aeromagnetic data, and 3D/4D modelling and exploration targetting, first for EHW Geoscience Consultants (based in Canberra, but working on projects throughout Australia) and then for SRK Consulting, based in Santiago Chile and working in Chile, Peru and Argentina. She is fluent in Spanish (and gets by just fine in French as well).

She moved to Tofino, on Vancouver Island’s wild west coast  (now a part of Clayoquot Sound UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve) in 1995. She had learned to sea-kayak while still in Australia but here, living ocean-front to some of the world’s best paddling, she got serious about the kayaking. She undertook the necessary training and became a qualified sea-kayak guide, guiding and instructing for five years, in between her geology contracts in South America.

In 2000, having been influenced by both Clayoquot Sound’s intact wilderness and the many indigenous friends she had made there, she decided to leave the mining industry for good, and to devote herself full-time to photography. Her hope was, rather than leaving a negative impact on the earth through her participation in the mining industry (thereby supporting consumerism, destruction of the environment, and displacement of indigenous peoples from their traditional territories), to use her wilderness photography to try to leave a more positive impact by encouraging people to tread more lightly on our planet. Creative writing soon became a natural accompaniment to her photography. She studied Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia part-time, through the UBC Optional Residency (online) program, and received her MFA in 2012.

Jacqueline is author of or major contributor to four books, one of which is a Canadian best-seller. Her articles and photographs have been published in numerous quality magazines around the world. She has written, recorded and produced numerous radio documentaries for the CBC and other radio networks. She does not tie herself to any one medium; rather, she chooses the medium – words, images, sound, or film – that best suits the story that she wants to tell.

Jacqueline’s strength is the unusual combination of her rigorous scientific training with strong ability in story-telling. This blend of skills means that she is uniquely able to explain complex technical subjects (whether her own specialty area of Earth Sciences, or in other fields such as finance) in a manner that is not only clear and understandable, but also engaging. She uses these skills both in her work as a writer (and ghostwriter) and as a guide on expedition cruise ships. These days, Jacqueline spends several months of each year teaching and presenting on subjects such as plate tectonics or volcanoes or fossils. Her presentations lean heavily towards strong visuals and storytelling, her passion for these topics coming through, and her ability to explain simply yet evocatively inspires her audience to come back to her with questions and asking for more.

Jacqueline balances her time between working on ships, and writing (both ghostwriting for clients such as doctors and lawyers, as well as her own works). In 2011 she moved from Tofino to Port Alberni, in the centre of Vancouver Island, where she lives with her partner Dave and their part-time dog.

Academic degrees and Honours:

B.Sc. (Honours) in Geology, McGill University, 1987 – received Logan Gold Medal for finishing first in class

M.F.A. in Creative Writing, University of British Columbia, 2012

Ph.D. in Structural Geology, The University of Western Australia, 1992

Awarded the Sir Christopher Ondaatje Medal for Exploration, 2021, by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.