Rachel May lives in Syracuse, New York. May earned a B.A. in Slavic languages from Princeton University in 1978, an M.Litt in modern languages from the University of Oxford in 1981, a Ph.D. in Slavic languages from Stanford University in 1990, and an M.P.S. in environmental science from the State University of New York (SUNY) in 2003. Her career experience includes working as an associate professor of Russian at Macalester College and as the director of the office of environment and society at Syracuse University.
