USEE Member Highlights

USEE Web

Welcome to the USEE Member Highlights page.  We strive to visit one member a month and highlight their incredible work in our USEE Enewsletter and on the USEE Blog.  You can read about our visits below:

Living Planet Aquarium

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest

The Nature Conservancy

Momentum Recycling

Utah Botanical Center

The Green Building Center

Great Salt Lake Institute

Tracy Aviary

USU Water Quality Extension

Utah Museum of Natural History

Four Corners School

Ogden Nature Center

To learn more about becoming an Institutional Member of USEE, visit our membership page. If you are already a USEE Institutional Member and would like to participate in a member highlight opportunity, please contact Nicole by calling 801-328-1549 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

TRACY AVIARY

(May 2009)

by Alaina Caudillo

A few weeks ago on a sunny day in May, Andree', Nicole, TJ, and I went to the Tracy Aviary. Though I have been to Liberty Park more times than I can count, somehow I had never been to this wonderful place, tucked in the Southwest corner of the park. Walking in, there are little painted bird tracks that lead up to the visitor booth, where friendly employees are ready to greet you and collect the affordable $5 fee. Right away there are opportunities for visitors and kids to interact with the ducks, feeding them pellets. Peacocks wander about flashing their myriad of colors to instantly entertain the eye. Kids run excitedly from bird to bird, marveling at the opportunity to see something they might never have seen before. Learning is fun here, and each bird has a story to tell.

Open to the public since 1938, Tracy Aviary maintains a collection of approximately 400 birds representing about 135 species. Many of these birds are considered rare or endangered. Many of the birds living at Tracy Aviary have been rescued, though some of the visitors are still wild. The Feathered Friends Feeder Yards, behind the Chase Mill and at the southeast corner of the Aviary, encourage visits by numerous species of sparrows, chickadees, starlings and finches.

The USEE staff was happy to enjoy a potluck lunch with the Director or Education, the Education Manager, and the rest of the education staff, followed by an informative tour of the facility. The employees are very knowledgeable and encouraged our questions while providing a wealth of information to absorb. We were able to see the new Destination Argentina! exhibit. Destination Argentina! opened July 15, 2005. The exhibit brings a little bit of Argentina to Utah, so you can see where some of our Utah birds go when they migrate. Every year, hundreds of thousands of shorebirds from Utah's Great Salt Lake fly south to winter in Argentina. So the next time you're looking for a fun educational adventure, fly by the Aviary and treat yourself to a mini vacation. Daily events include:

Amazon Adventure: Now open where you can feed the flock of sun conures. These beautiful and endangered South American parrots will eat right from your hand! Feeding times are 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 1:30 & 2:30 daily.

Cuckoo Corner: Now open to the public where you can feed the guira cuckoos! The friendly and funny cuckoos are specially trained to flock to a perch so you can get an up close and personal view as you feed them a tasty treat. Feeding times are 10:00 & 12:00 daily.

Kennecott Wetland Immersion Experience: Now open to the public, housing 12 wetland bird species, 6732 gallons of water and about 30 varieties of Utah native plants. This 30-foot high elliptical building was created for Aviary visitors to experience a wetland habitat without having to leave downtown Salt Lake City.

Other Daily Events

Birdshow Daily at 11:00, 1:00, 3:00

Pelican Feeding at 2:00

 

USU WATER QUALITY EXTENSION

(2009)

by Andree' Walker Bravo

Congratulations to Nancy Mesner and USU Water Quality Extension!

Congratulations to Nancy Mesner of our member organization Utah State University Water Quality Extension for receiving the division’s 2009 Calvin K. Sudweeks Water Quality Award in an April 1 ceremony at the Utah Water Environmental Association’s annual meeting in St. George.

“Nancy has developed this exemplary extension program, while also maintaining an active research program in the influence of land use on water quality and in teaching courses on oceanography, water quality and pollution,” said Walt Baker, UDWQ director. “As part of the Western Regional Water Quality Extension Team, she has become well known for her expertise, good humor and high energy in both the regional and national water quality programs.”

Mesner, an associate professor in the Department of Watershed Sciences and program leader for USU Natural Resources Extension, has coordinated statewide educational efforts in water quality assessment and monitoring along with the statewide volunteer monitoring program Utah Lake Watch. Read the entire article here.

 

UTAH MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

(August 2008)

by Andree' Walker Bravo

Last week, Jason and I had the opportunity to visit with Madlyn Runburg, Director of School Programs, at the Utah Museum of Natural History. Being new to Utah, Jason had never been there, and though I’ve been in Utah for many years, I hadn’t been there either so Madlyn was gracious enough to show us around. A few highlights from our tour were watching the Museum volunteers casting dinosaur bones, the amazing Native American bead work, the massive skeletons, and the beautiful minerals.

Not only does the Museum provide wonderful exhibits in their building, but they provide quality programming as well. They have in-house school programs, which include self guided tours and Junior Science Academy classes for students. They also have a Museum on the Move program that travels to 4th grade classes across the state to teach a variety of science topics using an inquiry based approach. Additional programs are also offered that provide extensive resources for teachers; Teaching Toolboxes, Professional Development, Ask The Scientist and Scientist in the Spotlight. For the general public, they offer a lecture series, a book club, movie nights, gallery programs, camps and more.

One of the most impressive programs the Museum runs is their Youth Teaching Youth Program. For this program, middle school students apply, interview and are trained to teach outreach programs in 4th grade classes at underserved Salt Lake City schools. The middle school students can teach until they reach high school and then have the option of mentoring the new teaching recruits. The high school students also get assistance with internships, college visits, scholarship applications, etc. What a wonderful way to involve students in teaching science and prolonging that experience for them to make it meaningful and lasting.

When we asked Madlyn her favorite thing about working for the Utah Museum of Natural History she replied that she enjoyed the many different interests and skills of employees at the Museum – from marketing to scientists, everyone has their place. She also loves to see the skills and passion that back up their work. Most of all she said that everyone works from a set of shared values and goals for the Museum and does all that they can to support those values.

After our visit, I took my family back to the museum. I was again impressed and agree with all that Madlyn said. With their new building underway it is clear that UMNH is poised to continue offering quality programs that serve a diverse audience.

 

FOUR CORNERS

(February 2008)

by Jason Taylor

The 8th Annual Colorado Plateau Bioregional Outdoor Education Conference was held in Blanding, UT February 29-March 2. USEE's Executive Director Jason Taylor attended the event along with participants from across the four corners including teachers, non-formal educators and exhibitors. The pre-conference workshop "Children Deserve Wild Spaces" focused on integrating language arts and science standards through outdoor exploration. The featured speaker, Craig Childs, explored desert ecology with excerpts from his book "House of Rain: Tracking A Vanished Civilization Across The Southwest". The remainder of the conference consisted of a variety of concurrent sessions, including a discussion of how to involve current events in the classroom.

 

OGDEN NATURE CENTER

(January 2008)

By Andree’ Walker Bravo

Last month, Jason and I visited Mary McKinley and April Phillips at the Ogden Nature Center (ONC). What a wonderful place! I've been to the ONC many times before, but have always been teaching a workshop or caught up in something else for work. It was a wonderful experience to be able to walk the grounds, visit with the birds in the Mews (especially Cronk, the Raven who likes to do tricks for the students coming to see him), tour the Green Buildings and chat with Mary and April.

The Mission of the ONC is to affect change to the point where they have created an environmentally sustainable community. I was blown away as Mary and April described the many programs that they have for youth to adults, ranging from school programs to day camps to evening concerts and more. They reach over 12,000 youth through their school programs, and countless community members. Another impressive fact I learned about ONC is that they have 300 active volunteers! The programs at ONC never seem to end….

As we were wrapping up our time at ONC, I asked both Mary and April their favorite parts of the nature center. Mary replied that she loves the property, just the feel of it. She also enjoys all the people involved in the nature center – the staff, the visitors and the volunteers. "It's a pleasure to be here every day" she said. April commented on the sense of wonder that surrounds the nature center, especially working with children. She loves having that sense of wonder herself everyday as well as seeing it in the children she teaches.

I would encourage everyone to visit the Ogden Nature Center and experience that sense of wonder for themselves. But watch out, you might stumble upon the three resident turkeys Tom, Thomas and Tommie! If you do, tell them hi from the USEE staff.