Date: Tuesday, February 17 This is a BVSD In-Service Day so no classes for BVSD students.
Time: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM for the tour of the Vertebrate Zoology Collection
Trip Leaders: Carol Kampert, Dave Sutherland, & Courtney Rella
Participant Limit: 10 Teen Naturalists. A waitlist will be available if the trip fills.
There is no admission charge to the Museum for participating teens. The behind-the-scenes tour is limited to Teen Naturalists and BCAS Trip Leaders.
This is your chance to take a behind-the-scenes tour of the Museum's Vertebrate Zoology Collection - normally off limits to museum visitors! Our tour leaders will be Andrew Doll, MS, Zoology Collections Manager. He will open climate-controlled cabinets and drawers in the collections space to show us bird and mammal skeletons, skulls, and skins.
Bird specimens include the extinct Carolina Parakeet and Passenger Pigeon, the presumably extinct Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, and the Kakapo, New Zealand's extremely endangered giant flightless parrot. Mammal specimens include the endangered Prebles's meadow jumping mouse, the last grizzly bear in Colorado from 1979, and historically important bison skulls from Colorado dating back to the late 1800s.
Parents and siblings of participating Teen Naturalists may want to visit the museum while the collections tour is occurring. Entry tickets are the responsibility of those entering the museum.
Some participants may want to stay in the museum after the tour to see some of its famous dioramas and exhibits or special offerings, such as Infinity Theater (IMAX) or Planetarium shows. Participants should make reservations for these shows before the visit (any additional costs are the responsibility of the participants).
Registration Required: To register or for any questions, contact Dave Sutherland, dsutherland4747@gmail.com (720) 626 1797
Learn more about Boulder County Audubon’s Teen Naturalist program or send questions to Dave Sutherland, dsutherland4747@gmail.com or (720) 626-1797.
Who Can Participate?: Outings are open to unaccompanied students in sixth grade and up, as well as younger students accompanied by parents. New participants are welcome at any time.
Transportation: Participants must provide their own transportation to teen naturalist trips. A participant list will be shared if participants want to coordinate carpooling among themselves. If you don’t want your contact information shared with other participants, please include this when you register.
Andy Doll, Zoology Collections Manager, showing the Passenger Pigeon specimens in the DMNS collection. Photo by Carron Meaney.
Trip Leader Bios
Carol Kampert has been involved in natural history education for many years, starting as a volunteer naturalist for Boulder County Parks and Open Space in 1978 and working with the Boulder Valley School District to develop teacher workshops and activities for outdoor field trips for students. In 1988 she earned a Master’s degree in Museum Studies at CU and helped develop Science from CU, an outreach program that brings hands-on science programs to schools all over Colorado. From 1988 to 2002 she was coordinator of Classroom Adventures, a program for school groups at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science which featured hands-on experiences with museum specimens and artifacts. She has been an active member of Boulder County Nature Association and Boulder County Audubon Society for many years. Carol’s main goal is to encourage people of all ages to explore and appreciate wildlife, plants, geology and other natural wonders in the out-of-doors through hands-on experiences and personal observations.
Courtney Rella is a dedicated volunteer and advocate for bird conservation and environmental education, with a strong focus on raptors and avian ecology. She serves as a docent and educational outreach volunteer with the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program, where she works with permanently disabled raptor ambassadors for enrichment and to engage the public through learning and conservation messaging. She is also involved with the Denver Field Ornithologists as a field trip leader and conservation board member, with Bird Conservancy of the Rockies as a raptor nest monitor, and with Longmont Raptor Watch contributing data to long-term research and species protection initiatives. Her interest in birds also sparked a passion for photography, which she uses as another way to observe, document, and share the beauty of avian life. She additionally supports avian research as a bird banding station data volunteer, assisting with the collection and management of data critical to understanding bird populations and migration patterns. Through these roles and interests, she demonstrates a deep commitment to wildlife conservation, citizen science, and environmental education.
Dave Sutherland is an award-winning interpretive naturalist, recently retired from the City of Boulder’s Open Space program. He has a Bachelor’s in biology from Pomona College, and a Master’s in nature interpretation from the University of Idaho. Besides nearly 30 years of work in the Boulder area, Dave has led outdoor education programs in California, Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands. Dave is a self-professed natural science geek who uses games and activities to inspire others with his love of nature. He has been training for his job since the age of 4, when he began collecting rocks and butterflies and drawing his own bird books with crayons.