Local author and Hoyt Arboretum neighbor Phyllis Reynolds will be interviewing Hoyt Arboretum’s staff over the coming weeks to introduce you to the people who make up Hoyt Arboretum’s team. This week, we’d like to introduce you to Kyoko Donaldson Palacio, Visitor Services Coordinator at Hoyt Arboretum Friends since 2017.
Kyoko has a long name: her mother is Japanese (hence, Kyoko), her father’s name is Donaldson, and her husband’s name is Palacio. She was born in New York but moved to Tokyo when she was two, where she lived for twenty years. She returned to New York for college at SUNY Binghamton where she majored in Environmental Studies.
Portland has been home since 2016. She volunteered at the Arboretum for a year and then became the Visitor Services Coordinator in 2017. Sadly for us, Kyoko’s time at Hoyt will end in mid-September when the Palacios will be returning to New York to live. They love Portland, but they want to buy a house and start a mini-farm (veggies and maybe small animals).
Spare time for Kyoko these days, understandably, is non-existent, but what she has loved to do in the past is hike and take classes at places like the New York Botanical Garden. She loves the setting of our arboretum — the trees and the people. If she had a magic wand she would create an academic connection with Hoyt Arboretum and, say, PSU. This would extend the level and amount of education offered. And, of course, along with that comes a wish for more educational space.
We wish Kyoko well in her new New York adventure.
About the Author
Phyllis is a Portland native who has written two books about Portland trees and a history of Hoyt Arboretum. She has a PhD in Clinical Psychology.