is one of the foremost experts and scholars in the world on the indigenous people of Otavalo. She dedicated her studies to indigenous groups of various Latin-American countries with special interest in their customs and lifestyle since her doctoral studies. She was smitten by the peoples and cultures of the Andes during her travels there in the early 1970s and has spent nearly thirty of the past forty years conducting research in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia on traditional textiles, tourism, indigenous rights, music, and globalization. In one of her books, “Andean Entrepreneurs. Otavalo merchants and musicians in the global arena” she analyzed changes in the live, culture, social relations and business practices of Otavalo people during the last thirty to forty years. Currently she is working as a Professor of Anthropology at Saint Mary’s College of California, located in Moraga, CA.