Grand Canyon Trust Volunteers, a program to help restore ecological and archeological resources on eh Colorado Plateau
Grand Canyon Volunteers : Connect, discover, conserve, restore


 

 

 

 

 

 

Kate, Lauren, & Travis

Volunteer to restore Native American ecological and archeological resources
Help restore riparian habitat along the Paria River canyon


About Us » Our Philosophy : Staff : Trip Leaders

Kate Watters, Volunteer Program Manager

The coauthor of River and Desert Plants of the Grand Canyon, Kate found her way to science and conservation work by way of the shovel. Her western migration from Vermont after college soon landed her in the Grand Canyon, where she worked for the trail crew for several seasons. An avid gardener from early in life, she fell in love with the desert flora and soon fell in with the botany crowd. Kate set the shovel aside and earned a M.A. in Botany, Conservation Biology, and Creative Writing in the Liberal Studies Program from Northern Arizona University. Spare moments are devoted to her husband, Dan, and a small textile design business, as well as outdoor pursuits, traveling, and playing guitar around the campfire.

Travis Wiggins, Volunteer Program Coordinator

Travis began his journey as an environmental advocate right where you are now€¦ reading this website, looking for a way to get involved. After his first volunteer experience, he was hooked and decided he had found a good place to combine his love for the outdoors with his passion for working with positive people. Travis began working with the Grand Canyon Trust as an intern with the Volunteer Program in April 2007 and is now on board full time. He has led volunteers on exciting projects just about everywhere the program goes, from the Grand Canyon to Kanab Creek to the Paria Plateau. His favorite places to spend time with volunteers are the mixed conifer and aspen forests at the higher elevations on the Kaibab Plateau, and relaxing at Kane Ranch Headquarters after a long day working in the field.

Lauren Berutich, Volunteer Program Coordinator

Lauren is new to the Grand Canyon Trust’s Volunteer Program, but not to volunteering. Her last experience donating herself to a bigger cause had her teaching science and history at an orphanage in rural Jamaica. She loves the outdoors, enjoys working with people, and she is passionate about environmental conservation and connecting community members with their natural surroundings. Her exciting projects with the Volunteer Program include trail maintenance and improvements, Kane and Two Mile Ranch cleanup, flora and fauna monitoring and mapping, water quality assessments, and invasive species removal.

 

Kate: “We are enriched by the companionship, a larger purpose speckled with joy and gratitude. To be in the company of people, a once-disparate group now joined together by common purpose, yields great satisfaction. I think we are all just failed Broadway singers, and we come together in these beautiful places to pull weeds because we have no where else to turn. Plus, it just feels good.”

Travis: “Volunteering is a crossroads, a gathering place, and a focal point. The landscapes, ecosystems, issues, hard work, community, partnering organizations, the government — they all come together here. And at this junction, thoughts, ideas, and energy are exchanged and all involved get something positive from the interaction.”