A huge animal lover, Andrea is a journalist who lives in Washington D.C. and covers travel for the Washington Post. Whenever she can, she writes about animals! She has written about dog sitting around the world (Andrea says that she has taken care of dogs in Quito, Ecuador and Malta), animal migration - especially those of butterflies, sandhill cranes, whales, tarantulas, and brown pelicans, and how to help stray dogs when you are on vacation.
Andrea says that whenever she travels, she always volunteers with animals. "I have worked with shelter dogs in Thailand, Spain, and Mexico, and volunteered at a horse, donkey, and mule hospital in Morocco," says Andrea. "I have also flown dogs from Colombia and Puerto Rico to the United States, where their chances of getting adopted are much higher."
In the picture above left, Andrea is filling in as a baboon mom for an orphaned baboon baby when she volunteered at a wildlife resource center in Namibia. Her volunteer duties included having a sleepover with the baboon babies and changing their diapers, much like human babies, in the middle of the night.
Since the pandemic, Andrea has fostered over 30 dogs, and several cats - helping each one find their new home. She is pictured with one of her former foster dogs, Olive, in the picture top right when they visited Virginia to pick a spectacular bouquet of flowers. Shown in the picture on the bottom right are the gentoo penguins Andrea met on her visit to the Falkand Islands, home to the largest population of gentoo penguins in the world.
Andrea is looking forward to reading the stories in the upcoming Taradiddle Youth Writing Contest. She has these writing tips to share:
- When writing, the more specific you can be, the better. Details like color, textures, sounds and smells will help draw in the reader.
- If possible, throw in dialogue, even if it's an animal speaking its own language (Woof. Wooof. Wooooof!) or ours (Throw the ball, please!).
- Avoid cliches, or phrases that a lot of other people use. Be inventive and take risks with storytelling.
Learn more about Andrea and the other wonderful Taradiddle Judges here .
