2010 Patrick Sullivan Young Birders Fund Grant Awarded
by Tom Mansfield
Leah Rensel, 18, of Arlington, is the first recipient of a grant from the WOS Patrick Sullivan Young Birders Fund (PSYBF). The award presentation was made by Ruth Sullivan, mother of the late Patrick Sullivan, and PSYBF chair Tom Mansfield during the WOS Conference banquet June 12 in Wenatchee.
Such a fund was first conceptualized by Andy and Ellen Stepniewski of Wapato to encourage and support young people interested in birding, and in 2005, the Young Birders Fund was formally established. Following Patrick?s untimely death in 2007, the fund was renamed in his memory to honor his many contributions to Washington birding. During the past five years, fund trustees have concentrated on building up the endowment.
Leah exemplifies the type of young birder the fund seeks to assist. While completing an impressive list of field projects in her secondary school years (she was a member of Seattle Audubon Teen Birdwatch and attended banding camp, volunteered for WDFW scoter and goose banding, participated in the Dunlin Winter Movements Studies Program, and has been a hummingbird banding volunteer, among other projects), Leah demonstrated solid academic skills, graduating from Arlington High School last year in the top 1% of her class with a 3.95 GPA.
She is now a freshman at Linfield College in Oregon. This summer, she is participating in three WDFW projects: Locating Black Oystercatcher nests in the San Juan Islands, and further scoter and goose banding.
Leah's birding experience and interest in ornithology and biology come quite naturally. Her mother, Ruth Milner, is District Biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in LaConner. With her mother's encouragement and participation in numerous avian programs, Leah has had not only the opportunity to handle and learn about a variety of species, she has also had the benefit of working with professional biologists as a volunteer.
The PSYBF request from Leah was for a $750 grant to assist with a four- week course through Linfield College called Plant/Animal Interactions in Costa Rica. The course will commence in January 2011. Part of the course will be to develop an independent research project and while Leah has not yet identified her solo project, she plans to focus on some aspect of birds, possibly the neotropical migrants that breed in Washington.
When her Costa Rica studies are completed, Leah will be sharing the results of her life-changing experience with the WOS membership.
While the trustees continue their efforts to grow the PSYBF endowment, they encourage young birders to consider this financial resource for such activities as attending a birding conference or related event, field trip, youth birding camp, bird banding school, research, or census work.
