Sturgeon named Disney Conservation Hero
November 2007
RALEIGH – Walter Sturgeon, assistant director of the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, recently was named a Disney Conservation Hero by the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund for his “inspirational commitment to conservation.” The Conservation Heroes program rewards the dedication of individuals who, often at the risk of personal safety, work tirelessly to save animals, protect habitat and educate the people in surrounding communities.
Sturgeon was nominated by his colleagues at Operation Migration, where he has been a “volunteer extraordinaire” for the past four years, according to Liz Condie, communications director for Operation Migration. “Walter leaves his paying job behind him to spend 30 to 60 or more days squished up in a tiny trailer on migration with us every year, cheerfully doing every job we throw at him.”
Operation Migration was founded in 1994 by Bill Lishman and Joe Duff, one year after the two artists-turned-biologists used ultralight aircraft to lead a small flock of Canada geese from Ontario to Virginia. The unassisted return migration of these geese the following spring garnered worldwide attention. A short time later, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asked Operation Migration to spearhead a reintroduction into the wild of captive-reared whooping cranes, the world’s most endangered cranes. In the first five years of the program, approximately 60 birds have been taught a migration route between Wisconsin and Florida. This is four times the number that existed in the early 1940s.
Sturgeon says volunteering with Operation Migration affords him the opportunity to combine his lifetime interest in birds, aviculture, conservation and public education with adventure and “a chance to make a difference that will affect future generations.”
Bringing the Museum to your doorstep
The Museum’s Public Programs have again received $25,000 from the Citi Foundation to support “Museum at your Doorstep,” a program that delivers in-person and hands-on natural science instruction to audiences statewide to increase their understanding, awareness and appreciation of North Carolina’s natural heritage.
The grant funds will enable the Museum to provide free programming to groups who might otherwise not receive them due to limited financial resources and/or other special circumstances such as a language barrier. Targeted special populations include Hispanic/Latino communities, at-risk youth and persons with mental, physical or behavioral disabilities, as well as terminally and chronically ill children and their families.
Additionally, said Program Coordinator Martha Fisk, “Our goal is to initiate curiosity and lifelong learning at any age.” Fisk and other Museum educators will deliver the program at urban and rural libraries, non-profit summer camps, senior centers and other venues.
In 2006-2007, support from the Citi Foundation allowed the Museum to deliver 224 programs, reaching more than 11,000 North Carolinians. This new award will continue Museum at your Doorstep through 2010.
The Citi Foundation provides grants and technical expertise to organizations that help people improve their lives, businesses grow and communities prosper in the areas of financial education, educating the next generation, and building communities and entrepreneurs.
Friends to benefit from GoodSearch.com
Thanks to Development Officer Kimberly Kandros, Friends of the Museum can now earn a penny every time you search the Internet. The Museum recently signed up with GoodSearch.com, a new search engine that donates half its revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. You use it just as you would any search engine, and it’s powered by Yahoo!, so you get great results.
Just go to goodsearch.com and enter Friends of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences as the charity you want to support. Just 500 people searching four times a day will raise about $7,300 in a year without anyone spending a dime! Be sure to spread the word to others.
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, in downtown Raleigh, documents and interprets the natural history of the state of North Carolina through exhibits, research, collections, publications, and educational programming. Hours: Mon.-Sat., 9 am to 5 pm, and Sun., noon to 5 pm. Admission is free. Visit the Museum on the Web at naturalsciences.org. The Museum is an agency of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, William G. Ross Jr., Secretary.
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