The Nature Conservancy - Legacy Club donor profile

Jan Roberts on a North Pole adventure to see Ellison Glacier, East Greenland Fjord. Photo courtesy of Jan Roberts

Jan Roberts grew up in the Hill Country of Texas in the town of Hunt, which claimed a population of only 25 at the time. But the borders of this tiny hometown did not limit her.

Jan has circled the globe several times: around Texas, around the United States, around the world. Her sense of adventure has taken her to Iceland, the Amazon, Central America, Mongolia, Nepal, Antarctica and the North Pole.

Jan’s enthusiasm for traveling is matched only by her love of nature. Though she has journeyed to fantastic sites in faraway places, her “favorite spot on Earth” remains the Texas Hill Country where she spent her childhood. The rugged beauty of this landscape impressed her and gave her an early appreciation of nature. Exploring her native mountains and prairies 20 years ago, Jan came to know The Nature Conservancy and became a member.

“I know first-hand what a remarkable job the Conservancy is doing – from providing a home for endangered Attwater’s prairie chickens to protecting the Davis Mountains in far west Texas,” she says.

Photo courtesy of Jan Roberts

As passionate as Jan is about protecting the natural places she loves, it is not surprising that she remembered the Conservancy in her will. She calls her bequest a way of “giving to the future” and ensuring that these places will be around tomorrow – from her beloved Hill Country to far-off rainforests in the Amazon.

“These places need protection every day,” she says. “I count on the Conservancy to keep ahead of it for me, to be a watchdog for all plants and animals.”

An active participant in local events and field trips, Jan says the Conservancy is like family. Making a bequest was a simple and logical next step. She talks of just how much development has changed the landscape of Texas in the last 40 years and of how her bequest is a contribution “that will continue to move conservation forward.”

With her indomitable spirit and “joie de vivre,” Jan shows no signs of slowing down. Recent travels have taken her on the Queen Mary 2 as well as to New England to see the changing autumn leaves. Though she is always eager to explore someplace new, she finds equal pleasure in revisiting places she has already been. “I don’t get people who say ‘I’ve been there already.’ My answer to them is, ‘You’ve eaten ice cream more than once, haven’t you?’ ”

For Jan, there is joy to be found everywhere and in everything. Thanks to her legacy gift and the conservation work it will support, future generations will have a chance to create their own memories from experiencing treasured natural places.

Learn more about planned giving and the Legacy Club.