Gloria Garrett, PhD, lives just south of Leland on Lake Michigan next to a Conservation Easement she adores. It’s the fulfillment of a life-long dream to live, nestled in the trees, next to the lake she loves. Gloria spent her summers as a little girl with her family, swimming and fishing in Lake Michigan and Lake Leelanau, learning to ski at Sugarloaf and exploring the woods around Leelanau. Later, her love of untamed nature led her to wild adventures in places such as Africa (including a death-defying walking safari experience of bathing, alone and completely unprotected, 40 feet from the edge of a pond jammed with angry crocodile and hippos), Antarctica, the jungles of Ecuador and many, but never enough, areas of America’s wilderness. “I became a docent in 2016 in La Jolla, California (at Torrey Pines SNR) to share my passion for all living beings and science’s ever-increasing understanding of the interconnectedness of life on Earth. I have deep respect for the power of the curiosity, creativity and compassion of the human mind and heart as a bridge to stewardship of this wondrous planet we all share. I’m thrilled to be a docent now with the Leelanau Conservancy, leading walks in the woods where I first fell in love with nature.”
Gloria is a Certified Interpretive Nature Guide with the National Association of Interpreters, a certified naturalist, and a former semi-professional nature photographer. She is a member of the Leelanau Wellness Collective, where she offers her Mindfulness In Nature program (blending nature interpretation, forest bathing and energy balancing). Her PhD is in Energy Medicine, bringing mind, body and spirit into balance with the support of nature. She also has an MBA from the University of Texas in Austin.
