April 5 2022

By Amelia Leson

SAN JOSE, CALIF. – Rana Porter is an environmentalist who loves all types of animals, reptiles and insects. She also enjoys reading and drawing. Porter is independent and reliable with 3 younger siblings.

She usually goes to her grandparents’ house with her mom and siblings during the weekends. She cooks and bakes with her grandma, usually making Trinidadian food because that is where her grandmother is from. With her grandparents having a bigger backyard, they are working hard to turn it into a food forest which has many benefits such as producing food, improving soil and being low maintenance. Rana said, “I decided to do this because we like to grow our own produce, and having a food forest is a lot better for the environment than traditional agriculture.”

Porter and her family hold a reptile expo each year, one in Tulare and one in San Jose. At the show, they sell reptiles and let people pet or feed the reptiles and insects. Porter has been helping out with keeping the reptiles in the expo since the age of 5, doing things that vary from handling reptiles to hanging up banners and selling tickets. There are many things that you can do at the expo, such as crafts, or even take a new animal friend home with you.

On weekdays, after school and homework, she spends time taking care of her pet insects which includes ant colonies, tropical roaches, snails, stick insects and isopods. She also has a garden in her backyard which she takes care of, doing the planting, watering, harvesting and more. Her love of nature was sparked from spending time outside because her family would go to beaches and forests. “I’ve loved animals and nature for as long as I can remember” 

Rana Porter in her backyard with chickens

Porter also enjoys reading. One of her favorite series so far is The inheritance cycle that includes Eragon. “I enjoy fantasy because I find it interesting and entertaining.”

A book from The inheritance cycle

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