FEATURED INTERPRETIVE NATURALIST
LEE-ANNE WALKER
CONNECTING PEOPLE TO NATURE
Lee-Anne (in red plaid shirt) helps her tour group listen and look for local birds and wildlife.
Step outside this summer and explore
a wild world of nature – the unique
flora and fauna of the Elk Valley is
right outside your door waiting to
be discovered. From the cool, clear
waters of the remote Elk Lakes north
of Elkford, along the meandering Elk
River and up to the highest peaks of
the encircling Rocky Mountains, every
part of this valley is connected through
the spectacular diversity of species that
make their home here.
Inspired by the simple beauty
she sees at every turn, Lee-Anne
Walker has made it her life’s work
to understand the biodiversity of
our region. Fuelled by a passion to
protect natural environments, she
shares her comprehensive knowledge
through ongoing work with the Elk
River Alliance and Wildsight Elk
Valley Branch through a series of
winter snowshoe tours and summer
interpretive workshops.
Since 1981, Walker has worked as
an interpretive naturalist and holds
18
a Degree in Heritage Interpretation
and Masters in Environment and
Management. She has been a natural
history instructor with the College
of the Rockies’ Mountain Adventure
Skills Training (MAST) program for the
past 22 years and started Wildsight’s
Education in the Wild program in 2001,
sharing the wonder of the outdoors
with over 70,000 youth to date.
Pondering questions and searching
collectively for answers she maintains
an enthusiastic outlook, leaning away
from rote lists of facts and data and
instead looking deeper for identifying
patterns and relationships in nature on
her tours.
“It’s as simple as getting outside and
playing in the wild.” she says. “Just
by being ‘out there’ every explorer
finds the spark that ignites their
passion, and this hopefully stirs
people to want to protect what they
see and experience.”
In all her work she seeks to inspire
others to leave their environment