With extensive experience in planning, technical management and supervision, Valerie holds a Ph.D. in experimental psychology, a B.A. in cognitive science and is a credentialed mediator. A skilled public speaker and writer, she has spoken in front of national audiences including the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has expertise on educational technology and networked communications, has written a chapter for a distance learning text, and has consulted for the U.S. Navy. She has been trained in supervision, management, and formal mediation techniques. She works for the University of California, San Diego.

Avocationally, Valerie writes fiction, poetry and non-fiction, music and lyrics. She also sings, plays piano, knits, sketches, designs mazes, and gardens. Interests and hobbies include ethnobotany, automobiles, networked communication, alternative energy, and medicine. She has studied Spanish (and Judaeo-Espagnol), Hebrew and Russian. She edits the literary magazine Grasslimb, programs computers, and throws great parties. Her friends are scattered around the globe.

Born in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, she spent her childhood in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where her father was a professor of physics. Since 1976 she has made her home in San Diego, California. Her mother taught English as a second language (now retired), and her father is a high-level scientist at Science Applications International Corporation. She has two younger siblings. Her life partner, Robert Penny, is a physicist from Perth, Western Australia.