Butterfly Hospitals and Wonder: Meet Our Communications Director
Sarah Woodbury, Communications & Outreach Director at Sageland Collaborative, doing what she loves most: being moved by a place.
Sarah Woodbury has been in Sageland Collaborative’s orbit for over four years—first as a volunteer, then as an intern, and finally in two communications positions. In her role as Communications & Outreach Director, she tells impactful stories on our projects, from Wasatch Wildlife Watch to our Boreal Toad Project. From writing to speaking to documentary storytelling, Sarah dedicates her diverse skillset to connect communities across the West to conservation. Passionate about the many intersections between humans and the more-than-human world, Sarah is also pursuing a Master of Science studying human dimensions of ecology at Utah State University. There, she researches socio-ecological questions as part of a larger project restoring Wuda Ogwa, the site of the Bear River Massacre.
If you know Sarah, you know she has a curious and creative mind, is a skilled collaborator and storyteller, is quick to awe, and is in love with the more-than-human world. With creative writing published in multiple national reviews, a dance-poetry piece in the works for Great Salt Lake, and work facilitating Earth connection workshops, she always has something brewing in service of both beauty and landscapes!
If you’ve volunteered with us, you’ve probably met Sarah. Get to know her better here.
Sarah nearly busting with joy during a boreal toad survey. Photo by Alex Baldwin.
What do wildlife and lands mean to you?
That’s a difficult one to answer! Put simply, wildlife and lands give my existence a pulse. In my view, we humans breathe, speak, work, and dance only in relation with the more-than-human world. We’re wildly embedded in it. To be surrounded by others—scaled, leafed, or winged beings who are so incredibly varied and so completely dazzling—is all there is. This is the whirring world we inhabit, and it’s just such a gift to be alive in it!
How did you discover your passion for wildlife, conservation storytelling, and socio-ecological work?
Like many, I was born with a strong love of the world, paying close attention to the myriad life forms that surrounded me. Some of my favorite childhood memories are discovering brine shrimp in Great Salt Lake, organizing a “butterfly hospital” consisting of blossom-filled plastic cups for the neighborhood’s injured butterflies (and moths, but we didn’t know the difference), and crawling through wooded tunnels in the hollow near my home. The culture I was raised in did not have a strong environmental ethic or interest, but I developed my own, fished from the wildlife books and magazines I clung to wherever I could find them. I was also in love with creative pursuits, from poetry to painting to dance, and always had some kind of artistic practice. My heroes were Nalini Nadkarni (yes, she is on our board!), Vincent van Gogh, and Jane Goodall.
Sarah poses during her undergraduate rhizome research in support of wetland conservation.
I joined my passions for the breathing planet, creative work, and human communication by pursuing an undergraduate work in environmental studies with a communications emphasis. Later, I was thrilled to learn that you could study the places where more-than-human and human societies meet. I’ve loved diving into socio-ecological research this year.
Throughout my little arc, I’ve been continuously entranced by the power of stories to move us. During the human-caused crises facing us now, our remarkable ecological worlds need us to be moved to action. Joining story with land feels, to me, like a crucial way to do this. I’m grateful to wade in this fertile intersection.
What drew you to Sageland Collaborative?
I was initially drawn by the way Sageland—then Wild Utah Project—worked. I had recently finished my undergrad degree, and I was of the opinion that the “wicked problems” at the center of many conservation issues could not be solved with a simple or one-sided approach. Sageland seemed unique in its commitment to working with all kinds of diverse partners, opinions, and strategies to get things done. The organization authentically strove for outcomes for wildlife and lands rather than winning debates, and that felt like an inviting home for me.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention the incredible group of women working there when I started. They were passionate about wildlife, very welcoming and willing to share their skills, and knew how to accomplish things for the places of this state that I love so much. I’ve been honored to continue to work with and learn from them, others who have since joined the team, and our incredible partners.
Sarah kayaks with her dog on Great Salt Lake.
Documenting rosy-finches in the alpine. Photo by Janice Gardner.
Mushrooms, one of the beings Sarah is currently entranced with.
Collaborative poetry-dance work for Great Salt Lake takes shape.
What brings you the most joy in your current work?
Of everything I’ve discovered in my time at Sageland, the most primal joy I’ve felt here was discovering boreal toads. I love everything about them, especially the squeaking sound they sometimes make—though it is an alarm sound that prompts one to finish the survey quickly!
I am also sparked by the opportunity to do socio-ecological research with Utah State University, my advisor Dr. Sarah Klain, and Sageland. Taking part in this deeply collaborative, interdisciplinary project as it unfolds with the landscape gives me some relief from today’s daunting griefs of climate change, environmental injustice, and biodiversity loss. I am honored to learn from everyone involved in the project. I’m also loving working downstream on a poetry-dance project for Great Salt Lake, learning so much from my dancer and artist colleagues there.
Overall, I am enchanted by seeing wonder in people, whether that’s my colleagues, our volunteers, or our amazing partners. I think that is what unites the Sageland community and wider web of connections: an awe of and dedication to the living world around us.
If you could paint a picture of the outcome of your work, what would it look like?
I’m grateful to work in a role connecting people with the wider, wilder world. I feel that when we connect to the more-than-human, we can’t help but be spun into a meaningful relationship that asks more of us.
My dream for the West is that we can look into each other’s eyes—and into the depths of the rock faces, barked trunks, and wild skies of other beings who surround us—and know that we are in right relation. To make this a reality, I think we need all kinds of folks, each busily weaving their little piece of the tapestry. Weaving my own piece and meeting others doing the same gives me hope in the face of current ecological threats.
Sarah surveys for birds on Great Salt Lake wetlands, under the expertise of ecologist and Wetlands and Waterbirds project lead, Janice Gardner. Photo by Janice Gardner.
What would you say to others looking to get involved with conservation?
Dive in, and do it in a way that makes sense to you! You can sing conservation, study it, dance it, organize it, write about it—there’s always a way in. I’d love to meet you and roll up our sleeves together!
Sarah Woodbury is the architect behind our communications and storytelling. She is currently pursuing an MS in Environment and Society at Utah State University, researching socio-environmental questions as part of a larger project restoring Wuda Ogwa, the site of the Bear River Massacre. Prior to joining our team in 2019, Sarah worked as a writer, visual artist, outdoor volunteer manager, jazz vocalist, and botany crew member. Sarah is passionate about furthering the impact of conservation through engaging stories and creative strategy.