later, Lefebvre has now detected the presence of domoic acid in marine mammals living off the coast of Alaska—a wholly unexpected result given that blooms of the algae that produce this toxin are typically associated with warmer water.

In her latest research, Lefebvre, who is now a research scientist at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Washington State, found domoic acid in the bodily fluids and gastrointestinal contents of 13 Alaskan marine mammal species, including whales, seals, sea lions, walruses, and sea otters. She also found signs of saxitoxin (a different algae-produced toxin that can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning in humans) in 10 of the 13 species. She and her colleagues found both toxins in bowhead whales living as far north as thefirst and foremost.”

MJ: Give us the background on VIDA and how it started.

EB:Cate Marvin, my co-conspirator, was feeling frustrated with the fact that she had a panel rejected that was the very first feminist panel that she proposed for the annual Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference. She was looking at some of the other panels on new criticism and how to publish a poem, and she just sort of felt like there wasn’t a conversation going on that she could feel good about. She was at her house—she’s a single mother by choice—and she was provoked by folding tons and tons of little tiny infant clothing. She had a gigantic pile of laundry. She suddenly had this vision of herself as the character in Tilly Olson’s