Verna Gates’ career began as one of the original 50 employees of CNN who worked to launch the network. For 15 years, reported for the world’s largest news organization, Reuters International News Service reaching 1 billion readers and 417,000 media outlets around the world. She also reported for TIME Magazine, The Guardian, which is the world’s largest newspaper, and Troy Public Radio. She has won numerous local, national and international awards for her reporting. 

 

Author of 100 Things to Do in Birmingham Before You Die, first and now the newly released second addition. For five years, she worked with the Alabama Department of Tourism to recruit top travel journalists to come to Alabama and write (good things!) about our great state. They would participate in a travel itinerary she planned and led. Along with Alabama Media Professionals, she planned a national convention of reporters in Birmingham and led travel trips for participants. 

 

In 2009, she was awarded the Communicator of Achievement by the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW), which is a lifetime achievement award. She has interviewed people ranging from the Dalai Lama to President Barack Obama to Dolly Parton.

 

In 2006, after covering the underage sex trade, Gates founded Fresh Air Family as a way to strengthen our families and children.  The non-profit is dedicated to outdoor education and the development of critical thinking. Its premier program is award-winning science camp, Gross Out Camp, which served more than 2,000 children in 64 day camps in 22 locations and therapeutic camps for special needs campers in 2023. FAF also served 1,600 families through their weekend events and comprehensive newsletter promoting outdoor events. On February 4, 2023, she was received the Eagle Award from Alabama State Parks for her camps and events in State Parks, and her promotion of parks events. She was named an Alabama Champion by ABC News. 

 

As a self-taught ethnobotanist, she has appeared on NBC NightSide, National Public Radio in Canada, Voice of America, Pulse of the Planet, FOX 6 News and many more. She has taught botany at Miles College, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and other educational institutions. For her conservation work, she has been named Alabama Conservationist of the Year by the Alabama Environmental Council. She served as president of the Blanche Dean Chapter of the Alabama Wildflower Society for 12 years. 

 

A gifted speaker, Verna tells big stories, having twice been awarded the distinction as Biggest Liar in Alabama, lies being Southern-speak for tall tales. She wrote and voiced her CD, Renegade Squirrels and Other Nut Cases. She has shared stories and flower programs with numerous audiences. 

 

In 2025, she was awarded the Distinguished Alumnae Award from St. Mary's School in Raleigh, N.C., where she attended high school. In 2023, she was named one of Birmingham’s Top 50 Over 50, and the Legacy Award from Global Ties Alabama. Alabama State Parks awarded her the Eagle Award. The Alabama Bureau of Tourism named her “One of Alabama’s Unforgettable Faces for 2003” and The Huntsville Times named her “An Alabama Treasure.”  Her stories have appeared on NBC’s Nightside, CNBC National Radio in Canada, Worldwide Television Network, Pulse of the Planet, Voice of America and others. 

 

She is a board member for Global Ties Alabama, a U.S. Department of State affiliate, which brings international leaders to Alabama. As part of that board for 15 years, she has entertained visiting dignitaries from the Vice President of Norway, to ambassadors, to human rights activists to freedom fighters to all of the Holocaust Museum directors from Poland.  See the picture of a group from Africa below. 

 

She is president of the Alabama Symphony Council Volunteers and a former symphony musician. She has served on the boards of the Alabama Hiking Society, Alabama Obesity task Force, Alabama Environmental Council, Seasoned Performers, and the Alabama Wildflower Society. She has also served for 15 years on the Scale Back Alabama program committee. She spent eight years on the Education Committee of the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. She is a member of the Princess Sehoy Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Alpha Chi Omega Alumni Chapter, Encore and Trinity Methodist Church.  

 

Verna lives in Birmingham, Ala. with a dog named Truffles.