Patrick Kelly

S.J. & Quinney College of Natural Resources: Environment and Society

Patrick Kelly is an Environment and Society PhD student in the Quinney College of Natural Resources supervised by Dr. Sarah Klain. He earned his BA in Middle Eastern Studies from Florida State University under the supervision of Dr. Matthew Goff, focusing on first century BCE and CE radical Judaism eschatology with special emphasis on the Dead Sea Scrolls’ Yahad sect. He earned his MS in Outdoor and Environmental Education from Alaska Pacific University supervised by Dr. Mike Kaplan.

His thesis blended ecopsychology, ecophilosophy, and Norwegian Deep Ecology to create an experiential learning model which elicits hope via climate change action. He has been a professional educator for 15 years, including being the current Director of Education at Stokes Nature Center where he was co-awarded the 2022 American Society for Horticulture Sciences Educational Video of the Year. He was previously the Youth Programs Manager at the Denali Education Center, and adjunct professor at Alaska Pacific University. He also served as a Denali Borough (county) Assembly Member, Northwest Region Chair for the Association for Experiential Education, and is a peer reviewer for the journal People and Nature.

He lives with his wife, Katarzyna, and their three dogs in Cache Valley.