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About Rebel Roots
UNLV Garden Club
Rebel Roots was reestablished as a registered student organization from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in June of 2019 under brand new leadership. When the club was taken over from previous leadership, the club was little known and had low participation. One of the biggest challenges our club has faced and still faces to this day is to trying to build a well connected community. We're striving to build a community not only through the four beds that garden club operates from, but from the UNLV Community Garden as a WHOLE. We hope that this website will help us in that goal by giving a platform for community garden members to connect with one another as well as others in the surrounding campus community. The UNLV Community Garden has proven time and time again that it is possible to grow produce in the desert, so it is only fitting that we should be able to grow this community into something of beauty as well.
Meet the Executive Board Officers
Caroline Cohen
Director of Events
Major: Environmental Science
Sustainability and Health Minor
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"Hi my name is Caroline. I use my passion for the environment to volunteer locally in Las Vegas and in National Parks. I hike and camp pretty often with friends and family. Lately I have been getting into cooking, learning family recipes and creating my own. I love getting involved on campus with fun clubs and leadership opportunities, working with the Las Vegas community and fellow students as much as I can"
Andie Davis
President
Major: Life Sciences
Concentration in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
"Hello! My name is Andie. I am in the biological sciences here at UNLV in hopes I can further pursue my studies in botany and mycology. Besides Rebel Roots, I am on the executive boards of Ecology, Conservation, and Evolution Club as well as Student Sustainability Council. As you can see being involved on campus is very important to me. Currently I am working on a project within the Arid Lands Soil-Plant-Water Stress Interactions Lab studying keystone desert moss species Syntrichia caninervis for undergraduate research experience. In my personal life I love to do outdoors activities such as rock climbing, camping, hiking, and swimming. I love my two whites tree frogs Fraser and Willow, as well as my two beautiful kitties Floki and Opal"
Benz Nga
Vice President
Major: Biology
Concentration in Microbiology
"Hey everyone, I'm Benz! I am currently a junior pursuing a degree in microbiology, and afterwards plan to obtain a certification in Medical Laboratory Sciences. Aside from Rebel Roots I am also a member of Circle K International, where I dedicate some of my time to community service and volunteering in various events around the city. I got into gardening since I live with my grandparents and they had a garden with a greenhouse set up, and I kind of naturally fell into it too! I also love to cook, and I tend to plant culinary herbs, as well as a lot of heirloom varieties of things you can't find in the grocery store to experiment with in my cooking. My other hobbies include skateboarding, snowboarding, guitar, video games, and photography! I hope to have fun planting with you all :)"
Our Club Advisor
Tara Pike
Tara Pike is the founder and current manager of the UNLV Rebel Recycling Program. She started the campus recycling center 25 years ago after completing an undergraduate senior thesis about the feasibility of starting a recycling program for UNLV. Tara is passionate about continuing the diversion of food waste, recyclable materials and compostable materials from campus. She recently convinced the campus to purchase an in-vessel composter to process special event waste, coffee grounds, and some of the campus’ food waste, and she is the sole operator of the machine. She also focuses on helping the campus recognize waste reduction as the most sustainable activity. Tara served on the 2006 and 2007 Clark County Recycling Advisory Committee that proposed the Enhanced Curbside Recycling Pilot Program that has since led to improved curbside recycling for all of Southern Nevada. Tara is in her ninth year as the co-chair of the Southern Nevada Christmas Tree Recycling Committee and has been a member of the committee for 23 years. The committee has recently started diverting pumpkins from Halloween through an event called Pitch-A-Pumpkin. She is the Vice President of Recyclemania and has served on the board for about nine years. Tara is an avid camper, hiker, gardener, and at-home composter.
