Denise Barkis Richter is a retired professor emerita of Journalism/Mass Communication. She taught at Palo Alto College in San Antonio, Texas, from 1998 through 2020. Denise received her Ph.D. in Journalism from The University of Texas at Austin in 1998, her M.A. in Communication Arts from The University of the Incarnate Word in 1990, and her B.A. in Journalism, Radio, and Television from Trinity University in 1983. Before teaching full-time, Richter worked as a writer/field producer for PBS, a public relations and fund-raising professional for the Santa Rosa Children's Hospital, and a documentary film screenwriter. Richter has lived and studied in Mexico, Spain, and Guatemala, and she has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Mexico, and Costa Rica. In 2019, Richter became a Certified Professional Tour Guide. She and her husband walked the 500-mile Camino de Santiago through the north of Spain in 2022. Her third guidebook, "San Antonio’s Passport to Fun," was published in 2023.