Magdalena S. Donahue is an author, geologist, avid hiker, and two-time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier (2012, 2016). Magdalena earned her PhD and MS in Earth and Planetary Sciences from the University of New Mexico, and her BS in Geological Sciences and BFA in Fine Arts from the University of Oregon. Her graduate work focused on the formation and evolution of the topography of the Rocky Mountains. Magdalena is particularly interested in how and why mountains form, and how the landscapes that surround high topography support regions of high elevation. She is author of the Roadside Geology of New Mexico (2024) with Mountain Press Publishing. She lives with her family in Albuquerque, NM.