Vanessa Moss

Howdy!

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I'm a recent graduate of Sewanee: The University of the South in Tennessee, and received my Bachelors of Science in Ecology and Biodiversity in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. I am the first student in my institution ever to earn a certificate in Nonfiction Creative Writing.

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I grew up overseas (Nigeria, Argentina, and Malawi, mainly) before moving to my rural family town in the Smoky Mountains. Though I have a knack for traveling and have an international family, I deeply value rootedness and place-based learning. It's one of the many reasons I chose to pursue an education in the Southeast.

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Though my institution has no formal nonfiction or journalism program, I have written for nonprofits, lifestyle brands, science-writing competitions, and university news offices. In their 2018 StoryFest, my article was given Planet Forward's prize for "Best Scalable Innovation," and a subsequent photo-essay was a finalist for their 2019 competition. In 2018, Sewanee granted me the Seabold Scholarship for my "intellectual ability, originality of thought, great intellectual curiosity, and the ability to master concepts in [my] field of study." I graduated magna cum laude in my scientific field of study, and received Sewanee's prestigious Tennessee Williams Award for Creative Writing upon graduation.