Janna Pate joins the Jordan River Commission as the Volunteer, Outreach, and Conservation Coordinator. This is Janna’s second year serving as an AmeriCorps Volunteer with the Utah Conservation Corps and her fifth year in environmental education.
Conservation became a passion for Janna in Hawaii, where she worked for three years in horticulture therapy and learned to live and grow in the spirit of “malama ‘aina,” or care for the land. Originally from Galveston Bay, Janna has always known waterways as the heartbeat of her connection to the natural environment, and she feels enlivened by the opportunity to activate and engage others in service to the Jordan River.
When she is not along the River, you can find Janna continuing to cultivate her love for tropical plants in the greenhouses at Red Butte Garden, or along any of the spectacular hiking trails nearby, where she will be doing what can only be described as “rollicking,” the perfect combination of romping and frolicking.
Janna holds her MA in English and her MS in education. She may or may not be able to recite from memory a small collection of nature poems by Mary Oliver—and can certainly be counted on to spontaneously compose, while pulling weeds with volunteers, love poems to the Jordan River. Admittedly, Janna also writes love poems to her cats.
