Patience Burke

Campaign Manager
Pure Farms, Pure Waters

Since 5/24/21

Patience Burke joined Waterkeeper Alliance in 2021 and currently serves as the Pure Farms, Pure Waters (PFPW) Campaign Manager. She is responsible for leading Waterkeeper Alliance’s efforts to combat the destructive impacts that industrial animal agriculture has on our environment and communities.

The PFPW Campaign spearheads and partners on major efforts to reform how this industry is regulated using an expansive toolkit of options including but not limited to regulatory, legal, legislative, educational, and grassroots activities. Waterkeeper groups inform the direction and focus of this campaign and serve as vital boots-on-the-ground advocates.

Patience’s emotional bond with water goes back to weekends spent on the rivers and coastlines of North Carolina’s Coastal Plain.

A collegiate research project first introduced Patience to the Waterkeeper movement, and she built upon that relationship when she worked with and represented Waterkeeper groups as clients at the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic. Patience later co-founded a Waterkeeper group in Miami, Florida before going on to do environmental policy for the state of Florida.

Working within the Department of Environmental Protection and Governor’s Office, Patience had a front row seat at how the proverbial sausage got made. That experience convinced her that statehouse-level policy making is a crucial component to environmental advocacy.

Relatedly, Patience is a persistent supporter of civic engagement and believes the crumbling infrastructure our nation must fix is not limited to aged pipes.

When not on soapboxes, Patience can be found reapplying sunscreen and collecting far too many seashells from area beaches. She is an avid trail runner who gets annoyed when nature parks have bankers’ hours. Patience is a very happily married momma, lucky to live near the remarkable Tampa Bay. She fervently believes that parenting belongs on your resume.

"As a child, I took water for granted. It was simply there for me to enjoy. But by the time I reached college, my juvenile naivete had been replaced with a sense of urgency over the state of our waters. I’ve been working to protect them ever since. "  

Patience Burke's Articles

Waterkeepers Meet in Alabama for Regional Summit

  • By: Patience Burke
  • News

Last month, Waterkeeper groups from more than a dozen different states descended upon the Magic City – Birmingham, Alabama – to attend the Gulf and...