My name is Jaimi Butler. And I've spent half of my 46 years studying the science and the people and the ecology of Great Salt Lake.
I didn't know that I wanted to work at Great Salt Lake and I actually accidentally started working there, right out of college and I never stopped. I've been a biologist for the brine shrimp industry. I've worked in academia. And I've also worked with government agencies helping to manage the resources of the lake.
I have been fortunate as a woman in a very predominantly man's world, you know, brine shrimp industry and even the state, like I've been really, really lucky to be encouraged along the way to do the work that I wanted to do. And not every person has that.
I’ve devoted a lot of my time to telling people about the lake and helping people understand why we shouldn't let it disappear, why we shouldn't just dry it up. And so, I hope that the work that I've done has helped to shape perceptions about Great Salt Lake and I think it has. I think that so many of us have been working for Great Salt Lake for so long that people are starting to understand that we really need to have Great Salt Lake. If we don't, we have environmental and cultural and economic catastrophe, and I am not going to shut up until people understand that.
