Personal Work

I also perform volunteer work with other agencies at various times in addition to my own work. This may involve working out in the field or helping to educate the public. This offers me the opportunity to interact with the public and learn more about research as I study specific wildlife species in their natural habitat. Below are  some of my projects. The hours spent on these projects are not recorded and not part of my over-all volunteer hours.

Museum of Biological Diversity

The Museum of Biological Diversity holds an open house once a year for the public to view live animals and artifacts of various animal species around the world. I signed up to volunteer and since I have some knowledge on wetlands, they asked me to work the tadpoles and mayflies educational table. I was able to interact with both adults and kids sharing with theu about different tadpoles and mayflies and how they interact. This was not only educational for those I spoke with, but for myself. It was a great opportunity to speak with the public, educate them on aquatic life and even learn from them. I plan to do this again next year but would like to work the insect table.

Wildlife Monitoring

I do a lot of hiking both day and night. I have spent many hours either searching areas or quietly sitting to observe the movement of wildlife. Though I am usually monitoring mammals, I also observe reptiles and amphibians.  Some of the things I check are habitats in trees, ground or foliage. Wildlife monitoring provides me with information on species / populations within an ecosystem and how they live individually and together. I am learning to identify animal tracks, scats, paths and other signs left by the local wildlife populations.

Bat Advocacy

My goal is to educate the public about bats and how we need them for our future. I attend environmental events and hand out literature about bats and their importance to our ecosystem and economy. The literature is from Bat World Sanctuary. In addition to handing out material, I talk to people and answer their questions or concerns. It is great to break down the myths people have about bats. Photo at right was from Earth Day 2018.

Bat Box Inventory

I am currently checking bat box locations in Franklin County to create an inventory of the boxes within the county. These will be put together using GIS which local monitors may use. I am also working with local parks to either help get bat boxes in the park or help with maintenance for those already having bat boxes. Map coming soon!