Teen Naturalists Uncover Tallgrass Treasures
When international documentary filmmaker Yan Chun Su offered to lead a filmmaking workshop for our Boulder County Audubon Teen Naturalists, we had no idea what they would come up with. None of the students had ever attempted videography, and many were just beginning to experiment with close-up photography.
Yan led us out into the South Boulder Creek and Boulder Tallgrass state designated natural areas during too late-summer mornings in 2019, and we returned for more photography during September, 2020. She spent a half hour going over camera mechanics, then turned the students loose. As is typically the case with this group, they got right to it, capturing some sublime footage and still photos.
Boulder County Audubon started the Teen Naturalist Program in 2013, when two home-schooled brothers, Marcel and Joel Such, asked me why Boulder County Audubon didn’t have a program for teens. I thought, “why not,” and the three of us began organizing monthly outings. The program is open to students in grades 6 -12.
Since then, three dozen students have passed through the program. Several, including Joel and Marcel, have gone on to work as field ecologists and pursue graduate degrees.
Among current teen participants, some publish nature blogs or bird profiles online. Several help conservation organizations with field research and bird banding. Others have given public programs on subjects ranging from Ferruginous Hawk conservation to Wild Patagonia.
One student recently received grants from Boulder County Parks and Open Space and Boulder County Nature Association to study impacts of cheatgrass infestation on local wildlife. Another created a stunning video showing hummingbirds feeding and caring for their nestlings in a backyard ponderosa pine.
A dozen students have received scholarships to attend the National Audubon summer birding camp in Maine, where they photograph nesting puffins from cliff-top blinds and participate in bird banding sessions led by some of North America’s most respected ornithologists.
Eva Getman, 14, says the program has helped her feel more at home in the natural world while sharing her passion for nature with new friends.
“As a teenager, it sometimes feels like I can’t make a difference, no matter how much I care. However, being a teen naturalist means I’m regularly asked to take part in conservation activities, like bird surveys, and then provided information about what I can do to protect areas around my home and in the wilderness I love.”
Below are a few of the students’ still photos from our sessions in the Boulder tallgrass prairie preserves. Yan is helping the group edit their video footage, and we plan to have a short film ready to show by spring 2021.
The South Boulder Creek and Boulder Tallgrass State Designated Natural Areas protect the largest remnants of Colorado’s native tallgrass prairies, including rare habitat for nesting bobolinks and Ute ladies-addresses orchids. To visit these areas, park at the South Boulder Creek West trailhead along SH 93, one mile south of Boulder; or the South Boulder Creek East trailhead at the intersection of SH 93 and Marshall Road.
To experience Yan Chun Su’s quiet, heartfelt documentaries about traditional peoples and the richness of their lives, visit www.waterdropfilms.com.
Stephen R. Jones is the author of The Last Prairie, a Sandhills Journal and co-author of Peterson Field Guide to the North American Prairie, Wild Boulder County, and Butterflies of the Colorado Front Range. He taught in the Boulder Valley Schools for 33 years and currently works as a wildlife consultant. To find out more or register for the Boulder County Audubon Teen Naturalist program, e-mail Steve at curlewsj@comcast.net.