Debra Rienstra, Ph.D. is professor of English at Calvin University, where she has taught since 1996, specializing in early British literature and creative writing. She is the author of four books — on motherhood, spirituality, worship, and ecotheology / climate change — as well as numerous academic essays, literary essays, and poems. Her most recent book, Refugia Faith: Seeking Hidden Shelters, Ordinary Wonders, and the Healing of the Earth (Fortress 2022), combines theology, nature writing, and biological principles to consider how Christians must adapt our faith and practice for a climate-altered planet.

Rienstra writes the fortnightly Refugia newsletter and hosts the Refugia Podcast. She also writes fortnightly for The Reformed Journal blog, writing about spirituality, pop culture, the church, the arts, higher ed, and more.