Kathy Donnell, originally from Denver, Colorado, moved to Utah after college and has worked for Utah State Parks since 1995. Kathy has had a passion for the outdoors all her life. As a little girl tromping through the snow in a full-body snowsuit all day long, she later participated in Outward Bound (OB) courses in Colorado. As a young adult, she led courses for OB in Florida and for the Wilderness Education Association in Saranac Lake, NY. Kathy followed her passion from being outside to teaching outside for Utah State Parks as a Park Ranger/Naturalist. Currently, Kathy works for Wasatch Mountain State Park and oversees park education/interpretive programs and non-motorized trails.
Early in her career, Kathy volunteered for Hawk Watch International handling non-releasable birds of prey and monitoring raptor nests. In 2008 she was able to house an injured Peregrine Falcon. In Oct of 2011 she adopted an injured female Great Horned owl and in Jan 2020 adopted a male Great Horned owl. She loves to share the birds with people while illustrating the importance of raptors in the ecosystem, how they contribute to a healthy planet, and exploring ways people of all ages can protect the future health and prosperity of raptor populations.
