I have a professional background in journalism, including an MA from UNC-CH. I have worked in public affairs more than 10 years , at the state and international level in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. I also have worked in public health and hold an MPH from the University of Washington School of Public Health, a global leader in public education and research.

I am passionate about learning from other cultures and nations. That passion inspired my trips on six continents and to more than 30 countries. I also lived six wonderful years in Alaska, where I worked for the Consulate of Canada, Anchorage.

My website, www.rudyowens.com, features photo essays on topics ranging from human rights to life in contemporary Greenland. My photographs have been published in numerous media outlets and publishing houses. I also publish a photo and video blog, started in March 2014. My much longer-running web site, rudyfoto.com, is currently taking and rest and will be re-launched in the near future.

I recently put this blog, rudyowensblog.com, to rest. However, I am keeping all of the content available because of the global interest in my posts and commentary on a wide-ranging set of topics, from public health to leadership to history to adoption. I am doing more writing these days on my website for my new public health memoir on the U.S. adoption experience, called You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are: An Adoptee’s Journey through the American Adoption Experience. My book was released in May 2018 and is on sale in paperback and ebook.

I can be found running the trails in Portland’s world-class public parks, biking Oregon’s beautiful roadways, or surfing on the Oregon Coast, usually at Seaside.

You can contact me via my web site contact page. I look forward to hearing from you.

(Updated Nov. 29, 2018)