Wyoming community naturalist to speak at Audubon meeting

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By Becky Herman

Special to The SUN

The Weminuche Audubon Society will hold its chapter membership meeting on Friday, Sept. 14, at the Community United Methodist Church at 434 Lewis St.

Please note that we have changed our regular meeting day to accommodate our speaker’s schedule. Setup starts at 6 p.m. and the meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m.

The speaker for the evening is Zach Hutchinson, community naturalist for Audubon Rockies from Wyoming. While obtaining his Bachelor of Science in zoology from Northwest Missouri State University, he served as a kayaking naturalist, combining science and art to promote estuarine conservation on Galveston Island in Texas. He served as a conservation educator, rescuing alligators and providing public education on safety and conservation in Beaumont, Texas.

Before joining Audubon in 2015, he was the director of operations in a children’s science museum, helping to break new ground in STEM education within central Wyoming.

Hutchinson has earned his certified interpretive guide certification from NAI and is a trained facilitator for Project WILD, Project Learning Tree and Flying Wild. He has served the Casper community through his time as a volunteer director for the Platte River Trails Trust, aiding in the protection of riparian habitat and promoting healthy lifestyles. In addition, he sits as an advisor to the city of Casper on the Platte River Revival Habitat Committee.

Finally, Hutchinson served three years as the president of the Murie Audubon Society, the longest-lived Audubon chapter in Wyoming. He currently holds the master bird banding permit for Audubon Rockies.

Hutchinson’s presentation will focus on his 40-day trip across Peru, including all of the amazing birds he experienced. As he traveled across this birder paradise, he taught at multiple bird banding workshops, establishing ties with young Peruvians and helping them to prepare themselves to become biologists.

Refreshments will be served. Please bring a donation of a nonperishable food item for the Methodist Church food pantry. Call Jean Zirnhelt at 731-2985 for more information.