Phoenix grew up in Colorado, United States, with two parents who are FBI agents.[4] She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Smith College and a master's degree in geology from California State University, Los Angeles, with a thesis titled Lava Flow Morphologies and Structural Features Along the Axis of the South Rift Zone of Loihi Seamount, Hawaii.[5][4] Phoenix later enrolled in a PhD program with the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences[6]atQueensland University of Technology in Australia studying Mexico's Sierra Madre Occidental range,[7] but withdrew after falling out with her PhD advisor.[1][4]
Phoenix has written a memoir titled Ms. Adventure: My Wild Explorations in Science, Lava, and Life[8] published by Timber Press, a division of Workman Publishing Group, 2021.[9][10] The book was nominated as a finalist for the 2022 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books in the category of Young Adult Science.[11]
Phoenix has appeared in the Discovery series Trailblazers in 2016,[12]Devil Sharks in 2017,[4][13] and Science Channel's series What on Earth? in 2015.[14] In 2021 she was a co-host with Stel Pavlou of the Discovery series Hunting Atlantis.[15]Hunting Atlantis has been criticized by scientists from the archaeology, anthropology, and history communities for pseudoscience and misrepresenting history and archaeology for entertainment purposes.[16]
Phoenix is married to Carlos Peláez. They both changed their last names to Phoenix in 2012.[4] Together they founded Blueprint Earth,[18] a volunteer-based non-profit focused on cataloging the ecosystem in one square kilometer of the Mojave Desert.[1][4]
^Deemer, J.L., 2010. Lava Flow Morphologies and Structural Features Along the Axis of the South Rift Zone of Loihi Seamount, Hawaii. Los Angeles: California State University Press.
