Peg Herring
Peg Herring was born into a military family, with a father that was in the Marine Corps and a mother who worked as a librarian and a bookkeeper. She attended the University of Virginia in 1970 - the school’s first year as a co-educational institution - studying agricultural science and biology. Following her graduation, she moved to Oregon and began working at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife as a salmon biologist.
Herring subsequently became interested in writing, journalism, and public outreach, earning a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of Santa Cruz in 1986. From there, she started her own business, the Science Writers Group, which she led from 1986-2002. For much of this time, she also worked as a science writer and illustrator for the University of California Natural Reserve System, and as editor of the Natural Areas Report, a quarterly publication issued by multiple federal agencies.
Herring’s formal connection with Oregon State University came to pass in 2001, first through a position as a grant writer and subsequently as a Science Communications Specialist with the OSU Extension Service. In 2002, she moved into an Assistant Professor position within Extension, with duties including editorial management of the Oregon’s Agricultural Progress magazine. From 2010-2014, she served as head of the Department of Extension and Experiment Station Communications and from 2014-2018, she worked as Director of Communications for the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences before retiring from the university in 2018.
Herring has also collaborated as an illustrator on several award-winning children’s books co-published by the OSU Press with Judith Li, including Ellie’s Log (2014), Ricky’s Atlas (2016), Ellie’s Strand (2018) and Ricky in the City (2019). She lives with her family on a small farm just outside of Corvallis.