RTPI Staff Blog

The Roger Tory Peterson Institute is pleased to announce the launch of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo's new on-line resource for a greener, more sustainable Western New York: www.growwny.org. We're also pleased to announce that CFGB has awarded a grant to RTPI to provide the website with information on great places to go to enjoy and learn about our natural environment. We are doing this project in partnership with the Penn Dixie Paleontological and Outdoor Education Center in Hamburg, NY. It's a great opportunity for us both to advance our nature education mission and network with dozens of outdoor education providers throughout WNY.

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On August 26th we celebrated the opening of a fantastic exhibit featuring the art of Cincinnati artist Charley Harper (1922-2007).  Son Brett Harper kicked off the show with a great illustrated lecture about his parents, Charles & Edie Harper, and the life's work of his father.  The show runs through December 30th at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown, NY http://www.rtpi.org.

 

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The Roger Tory Peterson Institute, of Jamestown, NY, held its 25th Anniversary Wine & Dine Benefit event on Wednesday evening, July 21st. The event honored long-time Jamestown area philanthropists Quint & Sandy Anderson for their leadership, service, and support of the Peterson Institute since its founding in 1985. The fundraiser featured food and wines along with live music, a silent auction, and the opening of the exhibit Mary Taylor Sculpture: Nature from Steel and Bronze.

 

 

RTPI board, staff and community volunteers organized and staffed the event for the capacity crowd of 200 attendees. Title Sponsor Wegmans of Jamestown provided the food, and Chef Cesca Wellman, of the Hess Collection Winery in Napa Valley, California, contributed the planning, preparation and serving of the food and wine. Without their help the Benefit would not have been possible. A silent auction was held that included items such as a Robert Bateman fine art print and an authentic Navajo crafted sterling silver concha belt. Auction packages include a birding trip to Lake Erie along with dinner for four with RTPI President Jim Berry, a weekend getaway to historic Elkdale Farm in southeastern PA, home of Roger Tory Peterson’s son Lee and his wife, Courtney, and more.

 

 

 

 

 

The Benefit raised approximately $13,000 in support of RTPI’s mission, which is to continue the legacy of Roger Tory Peterson by promoting the teaching and

study of nature, and to thereby create knowledge of, and appreciation and responsibility for the natural world.

The benefit included a meet-and-greet opportunity with sculptor Mary Taylor, of Honeoye Falls, NY. Taylor is an elected member of the Society of Animal Artists. Taylor’s work will be featured at the Institute from July 17 – August 19 in an exhibition called Mary Taylor Sculpture: Nature from Steel and Bronze. Visit the Institute’s website at www.rtpi.org for more information about upcoming events and programs events. The Roger Tory Peterson Institute is located at 311 Curtis Street in Jamestown, NY.http://www.rtpi.org

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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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