RTPI Staff Blog

Liz Rosenthal authored a terrific biography of Roger Tory Peterson that was first published in 2008 during the Peterson's Centennial year celebration.  It is being republished in paperback and will hut the store shelves in March, 2010.  Naturalst and Peterson colleague George Harrison said the book is... "Brilliant, a definitive biography."

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Lakes and Their Watersheds: An Introduction to Lakes, Lake Ecology, and Lake Management, taught by Dr. Thomas Erlandson, is a non-credit course offered during the 2010 Spring Semester by the Center for Continuing Education at Jamestown Community College.

The eight-week course focuses on lakes and lake issues in Chautauqua County, New York, with sessions taught on Wednesday evenings, March 3 to April 28, 6-9 PM, in the Carnahan Building on the JCC Jamestown Campus. 

Everyone is invited to attend a free overview of the course on Wednesday, February 17, 7-9 PM at the Carnahan Theater. For more information call 716-338-1005. 

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RTPI and Highlights Foundation team up to provide writers and illustrators (including aspiring writers and illustrators) with a unique opportunity to learn the craft of nature writing for children from experts in the field. Sign up now for Writing from Nature: Blazing a Path from Field Journal to Publication, April 21 - 25, 2010, at the Highlights Foundation's beautiful retreat setting in Boyds Mills, Pennsylvania. See you there!

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The Prairie Wetlands Learning Center in Fergus Falls, Minnesota is one of our favorite places for environmental education and a great example of what we're working to accomplish across the country. In the summer of 2008 I introduced the staff there to techniques for teaching others to keep nature journals. Now look what they're doing!

Nature Journaling Workshops

Winter:  Thursday, January 28, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

Spring:  Thursday, April 15, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

Summer:  Wednesday and Thursday, June 23-24, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm daily

Fall:  Wednesday November 10, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

People from all walks of life are joining together to share in the benefits and enjoyment of nature journaling:  preK-12th grade teachers, environmental educators, landowners, artists, conservationists, birders, anyone interested in observing nature, recording discoveries, and sharing them with others or teaching others how to journal.  This workshop is about learning how to see. You will be introduced to a set of easy-to-learn and easy-to-teach techniques that will help you become more a competent observer of the objects, places, and occurrences you encounter daily. Making and recording accurate observations are among the most basic skills connected to scientific inquiry and writing. Be prepared to spend time outside in the prairie.  Keep coming back to keep yourself on track if desired - share your journaling discoveries when you return each season. Bring your own notebook or journal, lunch, beverage, and snacks.  Cost:  FREE!  Dormitory accommodations are available on-site for $20 per night if needed in summer.  Instructors:  Dave Ellis and Molly Stoddard, PWLC Instructional Systems Specialists. 

 

 

Stay tuned for our next issue of Teaching Nature, which features the Prairie Science Classroom, a fantastic program at PWLC that teaches elementary students their required subjects and how to know and appreciate their local ecosystem. Way to go PWLC! 

 

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The education program we designed to accompany our current exhibition, Mapping the Birds of New York, continues to enthrall school children who come to visit. It's nice to get notes back from the kids, who not only thank us for the fun they had but also show us what they learned. Here's one from a student at Love Elementary School in Jamestown:

Dear Mr. Baldwin, Miss Nelson, and Mr. Sherman,

Thank you for the tour of RTPI (Roger Tory Peterson Institute). I liked it. Especially the activity that Mr. Sherman did, the scavenger hunt. Also when we watched the birds with the binoculars. I actually liked all the activities. Now I know names of birds, habitats, and much more.

Your nice friend,

Ezequiel Carrea

 

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Guitarist and singer Dan Vogan performed at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute Open House on Saturday December 5, 2009.  Our visitors enjoyed Dan's style of contemporary and classic popular music while they took-in the Mapping the Birds of New York exhibit on display throughout the building.

 

 

Dan & Barb Vogan are active members and volunteers of RTPI and  are known for their enthusiastic support of several of our area nonprofit organizations.  Thanks Dan & Barb from all the staff and volunteers of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute!

 

 

 

 

 

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Roger Tory Peterson studio in Old Lyme will become 'extinct' if it's not preserved

By Jenna Cho

The Day

New London, CT

Published 11/21/2009

 

Old Lyme - Roger Tory Peterson was a giant in his field, and his name resonates to this day as someone who revolutionized the world of birding.

There's the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History in Peterson's hometown of Jamestown, N.Y. The penguin exhibit at the Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration is named after the late ornithologist, naturalist and artist. And in Old Lyme, the state designated Great Island as the Roger Tory Peterson Wildlife Area.

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The Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History of Jamestown, New York is pleased to announce the receipt of a $1,000 contribution made possible by the 800 birding and nature enthusiasts who took part in the Midwest Birding Symposium (MBS) from September 17-20, 2009 in Lakeside, Ohio.

Bill Thompson III, MBS Coordinator said, "The Ohio Ornithological Society, Birdwatcher's Digest, and the community of Lakeside made this donation on behalf of the 2009 Midwest Birding Symposium in recognition of the Peterson Institute's excellent work to "teach the teachers" in carrying on Roger Tory Peterson's mission for enlightening people about birds and nature."

In addition to having a great time, the symposium's attendees were also generous-helping to raise $5,000 in donations for conservation.  This $5,000 was matched through a generous contribution to the MBS from the Ohio Ornithological Society's conservation fund.

The donation will be used to fund RTPI's nationwide effort to give teachers the training and resources they're looking for when it comes to teaching their students about nature and the environment

 

 

 

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In an earlier post I passed along some information that gave us a glimpse into the life of little-known Blanche Hornbeck, the remarkable teacher who ignited Roger Tory Peterson's passion for birds when he was a student in her seventh-grade science class at Washington Junior High School in Jamestown, New York. Her record of employment, in the Jamestown Public School files, noted her place of birth: Hartstown, Pennsylvania.

I stopped briefly in Hartstown the other day. It really is not much more than a crossroads:

But there is a post office:

and a small cemetery:

Unfortunately I did not find any headstones bearing the name "Hornbeck".

But Hartstown's location is intriguing, surrounded by marshland forming the headwaters of the Shenango River. Not far downstream the river widens into the big Pymatuning Reservoir, astride the Pennsylvania-Ohio border, which once was a huge wetland. Turn-of-the- 2oth-century Hartstown must have been a place teeming with birds and other wildlife.

I wonder if Blanche, as a little girl, would have looked on scenes like this one and developed a love for birds that she wanted to pass along to her students - including a skinny 11-year-old named Roger Peterson?  

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Writer Peggy Thomas (left) and illustrator Laura Jacques (right) were at RTPI last week doing research for a project they are working on. The product of their collaboration will be a children's book about Roger Tory Peterson. The book will be published by Boyds Mills Press. We are looking forward to seeing this new work when it is completed, Peggy and Laura!

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