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Holly Alyssa MacCormick


My Philosophy

I have many interests and a wide skillset. 

It's not a lack of focus, it’s my superpower and it enables me to successfully work with people from many backgrounds and disciplines. 

I am a writer, communication strategist, and editor. 

I am also a violinist and classical music lover, an animal behavior expert (especially cats and horses), an amateur ballroom dancer, a disease ecologist and animal behavior expert (I studied African lions in Serengeti and sea otters in California), professional actor, baker, vet tech assistant, singer, ballerina, artist, and I’ll probably add a few more things before the year is over.

Watch this site and come back often, my offerings will grow and evolve as I do.

My recent projects

San Francisco Opera •

Carmen | SFO

As free as a rebellious bird, it is hard to escape the magnetic allure of Carmen. Entranced by her passionate seguidilla, the soldier Don José descends into a dangerous spiral of desire.
Jealousy and obsession lead to fatal consequences in Francesca Zambello’s production in which matadors bump shoulders with factory workers in the heat of Seville. 
Bizet’s evocative score features some of the most recognizable music in opera, brought to life by conductor Benjamin Manis.

As free as a rebellious...
Stanford Humanities and Sciences •

Sleep experts share strategies to minimize jet lag’s effects on college athlete performance and health

The cost of air travel isn’t always obvious. When budgeting for a flight, we often consider ticket prices and the time spent traveling, but there’s another important expense to consider—the loss of quality sleep due to jet lag. College athletes routinely travel out of state to attend games and competitions. But the recent realignment of major college athletic conferences, including the departure of all but two colleges from the Pac-12 Conference, means that many athletes will make more cross-cou...
Stanford University •

Study reveals location of starfish’s head

If you put a hat on a starfish, where would you put it? On the center of the starfish? Or on the point of an arm and, if so, which one? The question is silly, but it gets at serious questions in the fields of zoology and developmental biology that have perplexed veteran scientists and schoolchildren in introductory biology classes alike: Where is the head on a starfish? And how does their body layout relate to ours? Now, a new Stanford study that used genetic and molecular tools to map out the bo...