Kelley Govan

Kelley was born and raised in Washington State, USA, where she has lived in both Seattle and more remote areas. She studied environmental science and English literature at the University of Washington, which has led her into a career of various, dynamic jobs in the environmental field. Kelley is coming to the Ranch after working for 3.5 years at a salmon recovery nonprofit in WA, where her primary role was to facilitate lessons for youth & adults about water quality, habitat restoration, macroinvertebrates, ecology, plants, stormwater, salmon, low-impact development, and more. She also worked for many years at a YMCA camp where she ran an equestrian program and taught environmental education, worked on the Elwha River re-vegetation project, taught marine science on a boat, was part of an Olympic National Park trail crew, and moonlighted as a cocktail waitress on a charter boat in Seattle.

Kelley first came to the Ranch on a study abroad trip in college, and is very excited to return almost a decade later as part of the 2017 apprentice team. It has been a life goal of hers to work on a permaculture farm and to also live in Central America for at least a year; she cannot be more thrilled for this amazing opportunity! She is excited for every aspect of living at the Ranch (even the bugs!), and is looking forward to taking a break from teaching and experience being a student herself again. Kelley loves the abundance of tropical fruit at the Ranch, all the critters, reading books in hammocks, and hiking the myriad of trails surrounding the Ranch.