Lara is passionate about deepening connection to place and community, and brings a diverse set of skills to her work as naturalist and outdoor educator. Formally trained in the arts, she spent over a dozen years studying language, culture and art in Japan. Since moving to Utah, inspired by a love of the outdoors, she completed the Utah Master Naturalist trainings. She has worked on local farms and community gardens, guided tourists hiking and snowshoeing in the mountains near home, and camped, snowshoed, and marveled at macroinvertebrates with 5th & 6th graders by the Provo River. She is a citizen of the upper Weber River watershed and currently shares her home with her family and fluffy rescue dog Ibuki.
The life of Great Salt Lake is inseparable from our own. Even as the active collapse of our ecosystem challenges our notions of hope, we devote ourselves to a future shaped by human reverence, humility, and reciprocity.
-Nan Seymour
Walking the Watershed was born at the shores of Great Salt Lake in the winter of 2021/2022 during a time of both cultural and ecological crisis. What began as a small group of artists, scientists and concerned citizens holding vigil at the rapidly receding shores of our inland sea, has during the past 2 years, rippled and reverberated with a growing awakening within our entire communities. Through being present in loving attention by her shores, we remembered and discovered that the lake is not separate from us, and we are not separate from the lake.
In this way, we invite curiosity about restoring our identity as citizens not just of our respective towns, cities, states and nations, but also as citizens of our watershed. Through Walking the Watershed, we expand our presence from the shores of the lake to include the multiple tributaries that feed her, and expand our invitation from vigil keepers to our entire community.
When the life of someone you love is at stake, you stay with them.