Rev. Karyn Bergmann Marsh has been serving Earth in various capacities her entire adult life, first as an environmental geologist, then as an environmental attorney, and now as a Unitarian Universalist minister and board-certified chaplain. Currently, she is the developmental minister for First Unitarian Church of Baltimore. Rev. Marsh joined the UU Ministry for Earth Board of Directors in late 2025 as the Secretary. 

Rev. Marsh’s mom used to have to remove rocks from her pockets in order to do the laundry since she got into geology at a very young age. The rocks told stories—whether fossils, crystals, or something else entirely—and young Karyn did not take long to realize she wanted to be a part of telling those stories. 

In 5th grade, Karyn announced that she wanted to be an invertebrate paleontologist, much to the confusion and surprise of the adults in her life. She stuck to it, though, and attended Penn State for her undergrad studies which focused on exactly that. While there, she learned more about pollution, especially about its impacts on groundwater from one of her professors. And so, after she graduated from the Pennsylvania State University, she pursued work as an environmental geologist.   

Some might find her career path to be disjointed, but Karyn says it was all in service to the Earth. Over the course of her several careers, Karyn recognized the interconnection between science, business, law, and the environment. That’s why her path to ministry includes a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Maryland, a Master of Business Administration degree from Villanova University, and her Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State. Karyn explained, “Initially, I thought that environmental degradation could be solved through technical and economic approaches, but I realized that legal systems played a significant role in remediation and preservation of our natural environment.”

But as Karyn studied climate change, she recognized climate justice is actually a spiritual issue, which is one of the main reasons she became a UU minister. “I had the realization: Nobody’s going to do anything until they view Earth as sacred and worthy of preservation, of honoring,” Rev. Marsh shared. “It’s a moral issue. I needed to give people the ‘why’ [for climate justice work]. The ‘why’ is that we are always standing on sacred ground.”

Prior to serving First Unitarian, Rev. Marsh was a chaplain at several hospitals in Baltimore. She says she will always see herself as a chaplain, as much to the Earth as to her fellow humans. This passion—this calling—is what led Rev. Marsh to join the UUMFE Board of Directors. “My whole calling has been Earth,” Rev. Marsh said. 

We’re grateful to have her on our team, helping us work toward our mission of being a seedbed for spiritual grounding and education that inspires deep practices of Earth care, justice and flourishing for all.