Desert Deep: The Great Salt Lake's Evanesce and the Gravity of Recovery

Author

• Avery Truman, Utah State University

Date of Award

5-2026

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Departmental Honors

Department

Environment and Society

Abstract

The Great Salt Lake has been shrinking since the mid-19th century for several reasons, primarily due to a higher evaporation rate caused by climate change and water diversion from the Bear, Weber, and Jordan rivers. This problem will cause mass ecosystem destruction, release toxic chemicals into the air, and strand migrating birds. As an environmental studies and geography major, I’ve spent a lot of time learning about the Great Salt Lake in my courses. I decided to write Desert Deep, a series of essays, after I took my first creative nonfiction writing class. The goal was to tell the story of the diminishing lake through personal experience and nature writing. Personal experience and anecdotes are often used to create a connection between the audience and the problem at hand, so my objective was to use this interrelation to form parallels in the reader's life. To include a different type of storytelling, I conducted a site visit at Antelope Island to practice photography. Here, I shot photos of deceased avians, local bison, water levels, and more. Within my process, I found myself trying to recover personal memories from my childhood. Additionally, I was able to draw upon experiences from different aspects of my time at USU, from working as an editor at The Utah Statesman to interning for NASA, National Geographic, and Tracy Aviary. Mostly, I used what I learned in my environmental studies and geography classes, which often focused on the lake. After graduation, I hope to become a science writer who translates complex subjects to a general audience. Desert Deep was a representation of the experiences that allowed me to practice those skills. My efforts alone won’t recover the lake. However, the goal of this project is to help readers look past the graphs to think about an environmental issue through personal experience. To document history is to “save” a piece of it. Through writing, I preserve the lake for others to enjoy in the future.

Recommended Citation

Truman, Avery, "Desert Deep: The Great Salt Lake's Evanesce and the Gravity of Recovery" (2026). Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects. 1101.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/honors/1101