|
Personal
History
Miss van Riper
hails from the southwestern US where she grew up on a ranch outside of
Flagstaff, AZ with her mother, father and three older siblings. She was engaged
in outdoor activities at an early age, raising livestock in a local 4-H program,
barrel racing and showing horses, and playing in the outdoors.
Her parents' involvement in wildlife disease organizations and ornithological
research also played an important role in her upbringing. Throughout her youth, Carena spent
many summers accompanying her mother and father to places like Yosemite, Glacier, the Grand Tetons, and Kruger National Park.
While her folks were off conducting field work, Carena and her
sisters were released into the world's national parks to explore natural and social processes
to their hearts' content. For Carena, these experiences sparked an interest
in biodiversity conservation but also showed the importance of public use and
enjoyment of natural resources. She has dedicated her education and research to
answering related questions about human-environment interactions in parks and protected
areas.
|
