Kathleen Worley, Professor, Theatre

For the last fifteen years, Worley has participated as a volunteer leader for Wilderness Volunteers, a non-profit that organizes low-cost one-week conservation projects in natural settings throughout the United States in conjunction with public land agencies. Wilderness Volunteers’ motto is “Giving something back,” and fittingly, Worley marvels, “Even in just seven days of working, you see something happen because of what you did.” Worley has led trips in Northern California, Alaska, Nevada, Hawaii, Utah, Colorado, and Oregon. She says, “I don’t think I would be the same person if I couldn’t leave the city and go walk by a stream or drive out to the mountains; it means so much to me to do something to keep these things as possibilities for others.” Worley encourages Reedies to participate in service work and believes that the experiences and the relationships that come out of it will inevitably serve them in the long-run.