While her husband served in the military Wright volunteered with the American Cancer Society, a local hospital, and the Republican Party. and even placed herself in the path of bulldozers to prevent the destruction of the
Florissant Fossil Beds. In 1977 Wright moved to
Seattle to work at the
University of Washington's Institute for Environmental Studies as assistant director. She left the Institute when it was closed in 1992. In Washington she worked with the Farming and Environment Project == Awards and recognition ==