Teton Regional Land Trust

3 days ago

Meet Lisa Simmons, our newest Land Trust team member!

Welcome to the Land Trust Lisa, tell us about yourself:
I majored in Anthropology and Art History at the University of Kansas (KU) where I also graduated with a Masters Degree in Museum Studies in 2003. After graduating from KU, I went on to work with non-Western art collections at the Denver Art Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. Most recently, I held positions as an educator, community outreach coordinator, and curator at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming. The common thread for all of these positions was working to study and interpret artistic representations of wildlife from around the world. I’ve always been fascinated with ways in which human values and beliefs shape our understanding of wildlife and wild places and how we use art to explore our place in the natural world.

I also worked as a Park Ranger at Arches and Grand Teton National Parks, interpreting natural, historic, and cultural park resources for hundreds of visitors from around the world. During this time in my life, I often wished I could more actively participate in the conservation of the landscape that I helped to educate others about. In my new role as Development Associate for the Land Trust, this dream is now a reality!

What drew you to come work for the Land Trust?
As a Development Associate for the Land Trust, I’m excited to take an active role in landscape conservation and inspire others to connect to the organization’s vital mission to conserve working farms and ranches, fish and wildlife habitat, and scenic open spaces in eastern Idaho. Organizations like the Land Trust would not be what they are without dedicated community members and landowners who care so much about the natural world. I am eager to get to know the Land Trust family and to help it grow!

Tell us about your family:
My immediate family currently lives in central Delaware, a great place to observe large-scale bird migrations along the Atlantic Flyway. I met my husband Riley in Moab, Utah. We moved to the Tetons together about six years ago and lived in a trailer in Grand Teton National Park’s Gros Ventre Campground for two seasons while I worked in the park and he guided for Jackson Hole Mountain Guides in the Tetons. Our son Alder completed our family in 2017 unless you count the recent adoption of sibling kitties, Shipwreck and Kraken. We are happy to have made our home in Teton Valley.

What's your favorite river, animal, and flower?
One of my favorite sections of river is the South Fork of the Snake River. It’s where my husband and I cut our rafting teeth. We spent many weekends camping along that section of the river during the pandemic summer of 2020. I also dearly love the Labyrinth Canyon section of the Green River in Utah; it's perfect for a family with a four-year-old!

My favorite animals tend to be creatures that exist in two worlds during their lives - water and land. Salamanders and dragonflies rank pretty high on this list. I’m deeply enamored with salamanders that are such mysterious and beautiful creatures synonymous with spring and rebirth. We are lucky here in the Tetons to have tiger salamanders, North America’s largest terrestrial salamanders. I get so excited when I find one.

My favorite flower is any small and delicate white mountain flower, like a woodland star or columbine. I’m also really into green gentians because of all the crab spiders you can find hiding in them waiting to ambush unwitting pollinators!

What are your hobbies/what do you do for fun?
I have practiced yoga for almost twenty years now and used to teach yoga classes in Baltimore and Cleveland. Last year, I became a beekeeper, a hobby that I dearly love. The ladies are gorgeous creatures that I could observe for hours, and you can’t beat sage honey from Teton Valley. I also love looking for ancient marine fossils on mountain peaks. I summit Mt. Taylor and Table Mountain in the Teton Range a couple of times a year to search out fossils of shells, sponges, coral, and even worm casts. When I lived in Moab, my favorite hobby, which quickly became a passion, was looking for petroglyphs. I’m also an avid hiker. I hiked half of the Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Pennsylvania when I was younger and continue to enjoy long-distance hikes. Hiking the Teton Crest Trail was a wonderful recent adventure! My husband is a rock climbing guide so I picked up that sport about six years ago. We hiked and climbed through Patagonia for three months, a life changing experience. I also love river sports, playing the violin, skiing, and looking for Yeti with my four-year-old son. We’re pretty sure we saw one in the Mike Harris Campground.

What inspires you?
Nature, my family, and people who dedicate their lives to making positive changes in the world inspire me. Ancient cultures and lifeways also inspire and fascinate me. In the summer of 2007, I worked to catalog the collection of the Manuel Chávez Ballon Museum at Machu Picchu, Peru.

Thanks Lisa, we are excited to welcome you to our team! ... See MoreSee Less