Jane E. Bunin, 78, of Boulder, CO, passed away peacefully in her sleep in the early hours of the autumn equinox, September 22, 2024, joining the earth in transition from one phase to the next after a life full of experience, education, community, and advocacy.

Jane was born in Manhattan, New York to Lilian (Barbalat) Bunin of New York, New York and Raymond Bunin of Newark, New Jersey.

She grew up in the Bronx, and as an excellent student attended the prestigious Bronx High School of Science, graduating in 1962 at age 17 as a Gold Medal Award recipient, member of the Arista National Honors Society, and with a Regents College Scholarship from the University of the State of New York to attend college. She attended and subsequently graduated from Cornell University in 1966 with a Bachelor of Science in Genetics, advancing what would become a lifelong passion for education, research and the exploration of human physiology and the natural world. While at Cornell, she met and later married Michael Yokell of Plattsburgh, New York in 1967.

Following graduation from Cornell, Jane continued her academic pursuits, graduating from Brandeis University with a Master of Arts in Biochemistry in 1968.

Already an avid naturalist by her early twenties, a multi-year period of travel, mountaineering and rock climbing followed, taking Jane across the country to and through the Mountain and Desert West to California, the Canadian Rockies, and beyond.

Despite her petite stature, Jane was known to be unusually tough, determined, and resilient - traits which she carried throughout her life. In just one of countless illustrative examples, she successfully climbed the Northwest Arete route of the 10,774 foot Mount Sir Donald in British Columbia - one of the Fifty Classic Climbs of North America - only to be beset by a storm on the descent, resulting in an 18-hour day that finished with hours of route-finding through the dense Canadian forest during the downpour, in the dark and without a flashlight.

After some time in Washington state and other parts of the American West, Jane eventually moved to the Boulder, CO area, having previously passed through the then-nascent mecca for rock climbing.

Living first in Sunshine Canyon, and then later moving to the Table Mesa area in south Boulder, Jane returned to her love of learning, earning her PhD in Plant Ecology and Ecosystem Management from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1975. For the next 20 years, Jane's energy would be devoted to her professional career as an environmental consultant, and to her family and the raising of her two sons, Benjamin Yokell, born in 1976, and Abraham Yokell, born in 1980. Through her consultancy Natural Science Associates, Jane performed over 30 different studies for both public and private-sector clients, establishing herself as a sought-after expert in the areas of endangered plant species, wetland ecosystems, and the environmental impacts of construction, reclamation, and restoration projects across the mountain west. Notable clients included the National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, and the State of Alaska, among others. A standout example of her work as a field ecologist was her environmental impact evaluation of the then-proposed and not-yet-built Denver International Airport, during which time blueprints of the airport could be found spread across the dining room table while Jane prepared a healthful and additive-free dinner for her family in the next room. A spiritual awakening in the late 1990's led Jane to new paths and communities.

After a divorce and autoimmune diagnosis, Jane shifted her energy towards the exploration of holistic medicine and ancient-wisdom cultures connected to the natural world that she loved so dearly, traveling to the Peruvian Andes to study with an Andean elder, attaining a Certification as an Ayurvedic educator, and launching a second career as an adjunct professor in the Environmental Studies program at Naropa University. In 2006, she joined a pilgrimage to Mt. Kailash in Tibet, later returning to Bhutan on a subsequent trip and having previously trekked through Nepal earlier in her world travels. Over the next few decades, Jane served her community tirelessly, teaching at Naropa for over 30 years and becoming deeply involved in local and global advocacy, sitting on the Coordinating Council of Right Relationship Boulder and serving on the Board of Directors for the Village Arts Coalition, Global Response, and the Alandi Ashram. Despite ongoing health challenges, Jane remained physically active throughout her life, taking countless backpacking, canoeing, and camping trips; regularly bouldering on Flagstaff Mountain in sun-protective clothes amongst the barely-clad 20-somethings of each passing decade; running in five different marathons; and continuing her lifelong love of dance with the Scandinavian and Israeli dance communities in Boulder, among others.

After Front Range snowstorms, Jane could be regularly spotted ski-touring around Boulder Open space or North Boulder Park on vintage wooden cross-country skis and leather boots.

Jane is survived by her sister Barbara Bertin of Irvine, CA, her two sons, Ben Yokell of Westminster, CO and Abe Yokell of Mill Valley, CA, and their respective families, including many nieces, grand-nieces, grand-nephews, and her five grandchildren through birth or marriage, whose lives and emerging personalities Jane took great interest in during her final years.

A celebration of Jane's life will take place on Sunday October 27. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Global Greengrants (www.greengrants.org) and Alandi Ashram (www.alandiashram.org).

May Jane's memory be a blessing and a benefit to all whose lives she touched.