Lake Effect: Defending the Greatest Snow on Earth Panel Discussion

Join us for a panel discussion on the relationship between the Great Salt Lake and snowpack in the Wasatch Mountains. Presented by ACE, Torrey House Press, Grow the Flow, and Save Our Canyons, LAKE EFFECT is a call to understand the connection between the Great Salt Lake and the Wasatch Mountains and how we can defend the greatest snow on earth. Featuring Ayja Bounous and Teri Harman, writers and contributors to the anthology The Once and Future Lake: Stories for Great Salt Lake ; Jake Dreyfous, managing director of Grow the Flow; and Jack Stauss, Executive Director of Save Our Canyons; and moderated by Torrey House Press Executive Director Kirsten Johanna Allen, LAKE EFFECT invites a community discussion on how to maintain a legacy of winter for future generations. ABOUT THE PANELISTS: Kirsten Johanna Allen (she/her) directs acquisitions, editing, production, and marketing for Torrey House Press with co-executive director Will Neville-Rehbehn. As co-founder, Kirsten has steered the press from its earliest inklings to publish conservation through literature to become the powerful platform for books and ideas about the natural world and the West that it is today. Kirsten holds a BA from Westminster College and an MPH from the University of Utah. She has two grown children and lives with a pair of cats and her spouse, Mark Bailey, in Salt Lake City and Torrey, Utah. Ayja Bounous is a Salt Lake City-based writer inspired by water in all its forms. She is the award-winning author of Junior Bounous and the Joys of Skiing and Shaped by Snow: Defending the Future of Winter, and a contributor to Alta and Little Cottonwood: Jewel of the Wasatch Mountains and The Once and Future Lake: Stories for Great Salt Lake . Ayja holds a master’s in Environmental Humanities from the University of Utah and hosts Snow + Salt, a podcast exploring seasonal rhythms in the Wasatch. Her work is rooted in the mountains, guided by the belief that snowmelt has stories to tell. Jake Dreyfous is a fifth-generation Utahn and holds a degree in environmental studies and biology from Middlebury College. He has worked for The Nature Conservancy of Utah, the Woodwell Climate Research Center’s community science initiative Science on the Fly, Save the Bay, and as a Utah fly-fishing guide. Jake works for Grow the Flow to ensure future generations of Utahns can enjoy the Great Salt Lake and its ecosystem without the threat of its loss. When he's not working, Jake can be found duck hunting, birdwatching, fly-fishing, skiing, and exploring Utah. Teri Harman is a writer and nature photographer exploring the interactions of culture and rhetoric with Utah’s lands and waters. Most of her work focuses on reorienting cultural perceptions of Utah Lake. Currently, she's a PhD candidate in communication at the University of Utah. She also earned a master’s degree in environmental humanities from the U. Her essays have been published by Orion Magazine, Torrey House Press, and Edge Effects magazine. Teri is the director of public outreach for Conserve Utah Valley and lives in Saratoga Springs. Originally hailing from the Green Mountains of Vermont, Jack Stauss has called the Wasatch home for nearly two decades. He has spent much of that time dedicated to preserving land and water in the West. He completed his master’s degree in Environmental Humanities in 2016 and almost immediately began working in the nonprofit space, focusing on restoring the Colorado River. More recently, he took up the helm as Executive Director at Save Our Canyons. In his free time, he enjoys ski touring, working on writing projects, and rambling around the remaining wild places in America. He lives in Salt Lake City. ABOUT THE PRESENTERS Alta Community Enrichment’s mission is to create opportunities in arts, culture, and education for the enhancement and well-being of the Little Cottonwood Canyon community. Grow the Flow is a citizen-led movement uniting science, storytelling, and civic action to do what no community has ever done before: save its saline lake before it's too late. We collaborate with farmers, faith leaders, scientists, students, and everyday Utahns who believe that a healthy lake is the foundation of a thriving state. Together, we’re building the public will and political courage needed to secure lasting water policy, restore natural balance, and ensure that the Great Salt Lake—and the people who depend on it—endure. Save Our Canyons is dedicated to protecting the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch Mountains. Torrey House Press publishes books at the intersection of the literary arts and environmental advocacy. THP authors explore the diversity of human experiences and relationships with place. THP books create conversations about issues that concern the American West, landscape, literature, and the future of our ever-changing planet, inspiring action toward a more just world. ACE aims to create an inclusive and accessible environment for all of our attendees; please contact our Executive Director, Sara Gibbs, with any questions regarding accessibility.