Nathalie Brandes grew up studying geology with her father. She earned her BS and MS in geology at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and continued graduate studies at Michigan Technological University. She worked at the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources; taught various geology courses at Michigan Tech, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and the University of Nevada Las Vegas; and currently is a professor of geosciences at a community college in Texas. She is the author of New Mexico Rocks!