Joan Bird moved to Montana to pursue graduate studies in Zoology at the University of Montana. In 1983, she completed her Ph.D. on inter-island variation in West Indies finches. Joan worked as a Conservation Biologist for the Montana Environmental Information Center, The Nature Conservancy, and Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks.
Joan freelanced as a nature interpretation writer and has written numerous articles for scientific and conservation publications. Actively involved in women's empowerment, she is currently a columnist for Crone Magazine. A lifelong student of unexplained phenomena and long-time member of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, she has worked as a community educator and change agent.