Volunteer Spotlight: Jan
In your own words, tell us about your volunteer work at the Cable Natural History Museum, and how you became involved.
I first became involved as a volunteer working on the Bee Exhibit, thanks to Vivianne's [Hanke] cajoling back in 2018. I then added being a Docent, which tested my "people" skills in so many interesting ways, and then last year started collecting and pressing plants to bolster the Museum collection which I plan to continue as my main contribution to the Museum.
Can you describe a favorite museum specimen, display, or exhibit? It doesn't have to be from the Cable Natural History Museum.
No question, the [Cable Natural History Museum's] Passenger Pigeon. It's with mixed feelings I can see a beautiful specimen of an extinct bird, at the same time a reminder of how humankind alone decimated the species in a few short years. It's a lesson for all about how fragile our Earth and its creatures are.
What are some of your hobbies/interests involving the natural world? What would you like to learn or what new skills would you like to develop?
Birding is probably my number one, with a close second to wildflowers and plants, whether it's growing them for pollinators, or identifying them, or simply enjoying them. Perhaps I am too old a dog to learn new tricks, but I learn something new every time I go out birding, and it's not just about birds. We the species think we know so much, yet every time I'm in the woods or a field there is something new.
What's one thing you wish everyone knew about the Museum or our collection?
How very extensive it is, particularly the plants. It's unusual for a small museum like this to have such a collection, particularly of a lot of the local flora going back more than 100 years. And how great the staff are, knowledgeable, helpful, always teaching people. Job well done (doing) folks!
Thanks, Jan!