Grayson
Grayson Mentzer (Lead Docent - c/o '24)
Grayson once told Instructor Tacata that all he wants to do at the Museum is “everything.” Two-and-a-half years later, the young man has put in over 220 hours of out-of-class event service spending his afternoons, evenings, and weekends leading Birthday Parties, taking care of the tortoises of Da Toe’s Army, leading the PWM Pigeon Crew in the development and construction of our new PWM Aviary, tabling at every local science and community fair, and even volunteering for the Museum during our off-season summers, helping out in any and every way needed. Grayson is a wellspring of energy and his love and commitment to the Museum is unmatched.
As a Lead Docent, Grayson is quick to volunteer for any zone, but his current specialties include Southern white rhino conservation as well as teaching our visitors what they can do to help protect biodiversity during the tour Outro. In the new year, Grayson (along with fellow Leads, Molly & Issy) will also be introducing the visiting public to the beautiful and diverse array of pigeons in our new Aviary, the PWM’s newest live animal exhibit. Grayson’s goal, like all Lead Docents, is to master every zone; come Spring, I wouldn’t be surprised to find the young man leading complete tours of the premises, all on his own.
Instructor Tacata is impressed with the growth and development this young man has shown during his time at the Museum. He loves this community and his fellow classmates and is deeply dedicated to the mission of the PWM, his commitment as powerful and tight as his curly, auspicious locks. As elucidated in 2022’s Oscar winning film, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, Grayson has chosen a path at the Museum rarely taken by its members and has come to experience a profound truth: the only meaning to be found in life is the people in it, and so the solution is to be present every moment possible.
Grayson once told Instructor Tacata that all he wants to do at the Museum is “everything.” Two-and-a-half years later, the young man has put in over 220 hours of out-of-class event service spending his afternoons, evenings, and weekends leading Birthday Parties, taking care of the tortoises of Da Toe’s Army, leading the PWM Pigeon Crew in the development and construction of our new PWM Aviary, tabling at every local science and community fair, and even volunteering for the Museum during our off-season summers, helping out in any and every way needed. Grayson is a wellspring of energy and his love and commitment to the Museum is unmatched.
As a Lead Docent, Grayson is quick to volunteer for any zone, but his current specialties include Southern white rhino conservation as well as teaching our visitors what they can do to help protect biodiversity during the tour Outro. In the new year, Grayson (along with fellow Leads, Molly & Issy) will also be introducing the visiting public to the beautiful and diverse array of pigeons in our new Aviary, the PWM’s newest live animal exhibit. Grayson’s goal, like all Lead Docents, is to master every zone; come Spring, I wouldn’t be surprised to find the young man leading complete tours of the premises, all on his own.
Instructor Tacata is impressed with the growth and development this young man has shown during his time at the Museum. He loves this community and his fellow classmates and is deeply dedicated to the mission of the PWM, his commitment as powerful and tight as his curly, auspicious locks. As elucidated in 2022’s Oscar winning film, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, Grayson has chosen a path at the Museum rarely taken by its members and has come to experience a profound truth: the only meaning to be found in life is the people in it, and so the solution is to be present every moment possible.
Renée & Yasmin
Renée Machado & Yasmin Romo-Macias (Lead Docents - c/o '24)
Senior Lead Docent, Renée Machado, is one of the most down-to-earth young people you’ll ever meet. The 3rd generation Petaluman grew up around a veritable menagerie of animals on her family farm: chickens & turkeys, sheeps & goats, horses & ducks, cattle and llamas, peacocks and emus, an Ark of animalia that would make even Dr. Doolittle blush! Farm life instilled several values early on that inform Renée’s character: 1) hard work is, by definition, HARD, → you knew what you were signing up for so don’t complain, 2) take care of your animals or they’ll die and that’s your own damn fault, and 3) don’t mess with a woman’s dog or she’ll go Baba Yaga on you (and you’ll deserve it). Renée is very much the Boss of this year’s cohort of Lead Docents and is comfortable delegating tasks to her peers, setting up docents for success, and keeping time during tours, the indispensable crew chief of our pit crew of environmental educators.
Teaching kids about animals as a way to encourage them to care about the world is second nature for Renée. Her love of the Museum stems from the daily opportunities she is afforded to inspire youth about the importance of conservation and protecting wild places, opportunities she does not take for granted. For Renée, this is about protecting her HOME and, in the heart of this young pragmatist, there is nothing more important.
Renée hopes to spend some time traveling after high school before pursuing a degree at a 4-year university in Law or another one of her passions, Film. Check back in about 8 years and you’ll likely see Renée cruisin’ Petaluma Blvd in her matte-black 1969 Boss 429, big, beige Anatolian Shepherd with its head out the passenger window, breeze tickling the tassels hanging off the rear-view from her newly minted Environmental Law degree. She’ll step out of her ‘stang, glass-bottle of real sugar Dr. Pepper in hand, cinematic lens flare panning off her Daven Sun shades… The Baba Yaga is back in her town, ready to protect a fragile world worth saving.
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Giolda “Yasmin” Romo-Macias is a proud young woman whose family hails from the Charreadas and Tequila Capital of the World, El Corazon De Los Altos, Jalisco, Mexico. Her family’s earliest recollections of her as a child share a common theme: “...that time she tried to rescue a stray dog from the gas station,” “...that time she left the house and spent the night in the barn with the cows,” “...that time she found that sick turtle and nursed it back to health,” “...that time she crawled into that badger den trying to make a tejón friend.” The young zoophilist has always had a connection to and love for animals, so it wasn’t a surprise when she joined our program in 2022; the classes at the PWM are a known draw for animal-lovers from all around the District. The real surprise, however, comes when you ask Yasmin what she values most about the PWM: “I love the people here… Being able to make connections with not only little kids, but with my classmates over shared passions. That's what’s special about this class; it’s the people, it’s the bonding, the shared love of life.”
Perfectly said, Yasmin… Perfectly said.
Yasmin is our class connector, the dependable person you can always count on who derives joy from helping those in need and gains satisfaction from doing her best for others. She effortlessly floats between all cliques in the Museum bridging groups with laughter and love; the only high school drama she respects comes from her favorite Johanna Lindsey books. Instructor Tacata often refers to the students in the PWM program as “family,” but Yasmin takes this to heart and makes it reality. Her dedication to connection and communication will be felt outside the Museum for generations as she is currently working on translating our Tour script and select displays in the Museum to Spanish in order to help better serve our community’s growing Latino demographic.
The nickname for people from Jalisco, "tapatío," is derived from the Nahuatl word tapatiotl (the name of a monetary unit in pre-Columbian times); Franciscan Alonso de Molina wrote that it referred specifically to "the price of something purchased." Querida, Yasmin. Eres un tesoro.
Senior Lead Docent, Renée Machado, is one of the most down-to-earth young people you’ll ever meet. The 3rd generation Petaluman grew up around a veritable menagerie of animals on her family farm: chickens & turkeys, sheeps & goats, horses & ducks, cattle and llamas, peacocks and emus, an Ark of animalia that would make even Dr. Doolittle blush! Farm life instilled several values early on that inform Renée’s character: 1) hard work is, by definition, HARD, → you knew what you were signing up for so don’t complain, 2) take care of your animals or they’ll die and that’s your own damn fault, and 3) don’t mess with a woman’s dog or she’ll go Baba Yaga on you (and you’ll deserve it). Renée is very much the Boss of this year’s cohort of Lead Docents and is comfortable delegating tasks to her peers, setting up docents for success, and keeping time during tours, the indispensable crew chief of our pit crew of environmental educators.
Teaching kids about animals as a way to encourage them to care about the world is second nature for Renée. Her love of the Museum stems from the daily opportunities she is afforded to inspire youth about the importance of conservation and protecting wild places, opportunities she does not take for granted. For Renée, this is about protecting her HOME and, in the heart of this young pragmatist, there is nothing more important.
Renée hopes to spend some time traveling after high school before pursuing a degree at a 4-year university in Law or another one of her passions, Film. Check back in about 8 years and you’ll likely see Renée cruisin’ Petaluma Blvd in her matte-black 1969 Boss 429, big, beige Anatolian Shepherd with its head out the passenger window, breeze tickling the tassels hanging off the rear-view from her newly minted Environmental Law degree. She’ll step out of her ‘stang, glass-bottle of real sugar Dr. Pepper in hand, cinematic lens flare panning off her Daven Sun shades… The Baba Yaga is back in her town, ready to protect a fragile world worth saving.
—-------
Giolda “Yasmin” Romo-Macias is a proud young woman whose family hails from the Charreadas and Tequila Capital of the World, El Corazon De Los Altos, Jalisco, Mexico. Her family’s earliest recollections of her as a child share a common theme: “...that time she tried to rescue a stray dog from the gas station,” “...that time she left the house and spent the night in the barn with the cows,” “...that time she found that sick turtle and nursed it back to health,” “...that time she crawled into that badger den trying to make a tejón friend.” The young zoophilist has always had a connection to and love for animals, so it wasn’t a surprise when she joined our program in 2022; the classes at the PWM are a known draw for animal-lovers from all around the District. The real surprise, however, comes when you ask Yasmin what she values most about the PWM: “I love the people here… Being able to make connections with not only little kids, but with my classmates over shared passions. That's what’s special about this class; it’s the people, it’s the bonding, the shared love of life.”
Perfectly said, Yasmin… Perfectly said.
Yasmin is our class connector, the dependable person you can always count on who derives joy from helping those in need and gains satisfaction from doing her best for others. She effortlessly floats between all cliques in the Museum bridging groups with laughter and love; the only high school drama she respects comes from her favorite Johanna Lindsey books. Instructor Tacata often refers to the students in the PWM program as “family,” but Yasmin takes this to heart and makes it reality. Her dedication to connection and communication will be felt outside the Museum for generations as she is currently working on translating our Tour script and select displays in the Museum to Spanish in order to help better serve our community’s growing Latino demographic.
The nickname for people from Jalisco, "tapatío," is derived from the Nahuatl word tapatiotl (the name of a monetary unit in pre-Columbian times); Franciscan Alonso de Molina wrote that it referred specifically to "the price of something purchased." Querida, Yasmin. Eres un tesoro.
Natalie & Molly
Natalie Frances & Molly Smith (Lead Docents - c/o '24)
Senior Docent and ACDC superfan, Natalie Frances, joined the Museum program in 2021 during the initial return of students from the COVID shutdown. A hard-working and dedicated keeper, Natalie fell in love with the Museum’s animals and spent most of her free time after husbandry quietly chillin’ with the snakes and lizards. Instructor Tacata recalls that, at first, the future Lead wasn’t really active in participating in the environmental education side of the program; in fact, one of her major passion projects was not biological but, rather, anthropological as she took the lead in cataloging our now donated Native American artifacts collection. Tacata also observed that she always seemed to have a pen in her hand, over-ear headphones thumping away while she furiously scribbled in a series of notebooks. Finally, after three months of trying to figure this young woman out, Tacata learned she was composing songs for her band, Hot Mesh, and damn; the kid’s work -and music- freakin’ rocked! If only she could put her writing talent and creativity as a performer to work at the Museum…
Fast forward to 2022 and Natalie came back from our class Museum trip to the Wildlife Safari Park in Winston, Oregon, inspired to research, script, and develop a new presentation on the biology and conservation of brown and black bears for our Tour; the young woman knocked it out the park! She had developed and executed one of the first fully-student-created tour presentations at the Museum in over a decade and pulled it off with a creativity and professionalism one would expect from someone 10 years her senior. Since then, Natalie has taken ownership of the North America zone and has become one the most polished and engaging presenters in the program. Instructor Tacata likens her style to a “punk-rock Ms. Frizzle,” a passionate and articulate orator of beautiful conservation stories, always in control, calm on the surface but with a sardonic edge expressed only when describing our species’ history of gluttonous consumerism and small-mindedness toward our world and its natural resources. Universally looked up to by her peers, Natalie leads by example and has left Instructor Tacata thunderstruck, deeply proud of the growth and development she has shown during her years at the PWM.
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Senior Lead Docent, Molly Smith, does her best to make it seem on the outside like she doesn’t care about anything: equal parts dismissive and sarcastic sprinkled with a touch of “bad girl attitude” and a good dollop of post-Grunge fashion sense, folks who don’t know her could easily mistake Molly for being an average American teenage doom-scrolling TikTok narcissist. But nothing could be farther from the truth. Molly Smith is a highly disciplined, heavily empathic, wickedly bright young woman with a deep passion for environmental justice and equity for the oppressed. She is a deep thinker, analytical and logical, a creator dedicated to giving her best efforts to producing excellent work (she just never lets anyone see these sides of her).
Molly is an “Ace” Lead Docent, someone Instructor Tacata trusts with the most difficult tour assignments at the PWM. Recently, Molly has taken up a new role at the Museum and has become the mentor for a young special-needs student interested in joining the PWM program. The gentleness with which Molly interacts with this young person belies her public persona and her connection with individuals, whether one-on-one or leading a tour of 25, is part of what makes her a special and irreplaceable piece of the PWM program. You know those shape-sorter box toys for little kids, the wooden kind with the square, circle, and triangle holes and their corresponding wooden shapes? Yeah, Molly don’t fit that; she’s a wrought-iron star that fits into a heart-shaped box.
Senior Docent and ACDC superfan, Natalie Frances, joined the Museum program in 2021 during the initial return of students from the COVID shutdown. A hard-working and dedicated keeper, Natalie fell in love with the Museum’s animals and spent most of her free time after husbandry quietly chillin’ with the snakes and lizards. Instructor Tacata recalls that, at first, the future Lead wasn’t really active in participating in the environmental education side of the program; in fact, one of her major passion projects was not biological but, rather, anthropological as she took the lead in cataloging our now donated Native American artifacts collection. Tacata also observed that she always seemed to have a pen in her hand, over-ear headphones thumping away while she furiously scribbled in a series of notebooks. Finally, after three months of trying to figure this young woman out, Tacata learned she was composing songs for her band, Hot Mesh, and damn; the kid’s work -and music- freakin’ rocked! If only she could put her writing talent and creativity as a performer to work at the Museum…
Fast forward to 2022 and Natalie came back from our class Museum trip to the Wildlife Safari Park in Winston, Oregon, inspired to research, script, and develop a new presentation on the biology and conservation of brown and black bears for our Tour; the young woman knocked it out the park! She had developed and executed one of the first fully-student-created tour presentations at the Museum in over a decade and pulled it off with a creativity and professionalism one would expect from someone 10 years her senior. Since then, Natalie has taken ownership of the North America zone and has become one the most polished and engaging presenters in the program. Instructor Tacata likens her style to a “punk-rock Ms. Frizzle,” a passionate and articulate orator of beautiful conservation stories, always in control, calm on the surface but with a sardonic edge expressed only when describing our species’ history of gluttonous consumerism and small-mindedness toward our world and its natural resources. Universally looked up to by her peers, Natalie leads by example and has left Instructor Tacata thunderstruck, deeply proud of the growth and development she has shown during her years at the PWM.
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Senior Lead Docent, Molly Smith, does her best to make it seem on the outside like she doesn’t care about anything: equal parts dismissive and sarcastic sprinkled with a touch of “bad girl attitude” and a good dollop of post-Grunge fashion sense, folks who don’t know her could easily mistake Molly for being an average American teenage doom-scrolling TikTok narcissist. But nothing could be farther from the truth. Molly Smith is a highly disciplined, heavily empathic, wickedly bright young woman with a deep passion for environmental justice and equity for the oppressed. She is a deep thinker, analytical and logical, a creator dedicated to giving her best efforts to producing excellent work (she just never lets anyone see these sides of her).
Molly is an “Ace” Lead Docent, someone Instructor Tacata trusts with the most difficult tour assignments at the PWM. Recently, Molly has taken up a new role at the Museum and has become the mentor for a young special-needs student interested in joining the PWM program. The gentleness with which Molly interacts with this young person belies her public persona and her connection with individuals, whether one-on-one or leading a tour of 25, is part of what makes her a special and irreplaceable piece of the PWM program. You know those shape-sorter box toys for little kids, the wooden kind with the square, circle, and triangle holes and their corresponding wooden shapes? Yeah, Molly don’t fit that; she’s a wrought-iron star that fits into a heart-shaped box.
Reid & Luci
Reid Harrison & Lucienne Hight (Lead Docents - c/o '24)
Like “wanting a pony” or “playing in the NBA,” there are hundreds-of-thousands of youth across the country who say they want to save dolphins/whales/x (insert cute endangered animal here), but that reality is both rare and incredibly hard to achieve for the majority of dreamers. However, for Senior Lead Docents Reid Harrison & Luci Hight, dreaming is just what they do when they’re not working; these two are “DO-ers” and the pride of both the PWM and the PHS Marine Science programs.
Reid and Luci spend up to 8-hours a week actively participating in the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of hundreds of injured and abandoned pinnipeds and other marine mammals for the globally acclaimed Marine Mammal Center Youth Crew, an elite volunteer opportunity earned by a handful of Bay Area teens each year. Once a week, the two Leads drive 50 miles down 101 to the Marin Headlands to work along with and learn from experts in Marine Mammalogy how to prepare and deliver food, clean pens, and assist with the veterinary care of sick and emaciated seals and sea lions rescued from over 600 miles of Northern California coastline. Their work is real, impactful, and making a difference in our community and the precious marine ecosystems on which we so deeply rely… And that’s just Monday night ;)
Reid has been bound to the ocean since he was a little boy. The son of Hawai’ian locals, the young thalassophile grew up loving the Nor Cal surf and sea; it’s a 100% certainty that when he’s not at school, volunteering, or working, the young waterman is out at Dillon beach charging a bomb or up in Bodega Bay dragging for stripers. At the PWM, Reid is one of our most experienced chinchilla handlers and has a special affinity for Kiara, our 11ft hypomelanistic Burmese python. Reid is also the first student that Instructor Tacata will call when a fellow docent needs support with an ocean-themed presentation. The young man’s persistently calm demeanor is a welcome balance to our often chaotic behind-the-scenes reality and Reid is a halcyon during times of distress at the Museum.
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Pound-for-pound, there has never been a docent at the PWM more powerful than Luci Hight. If environmental education were a detergent, Luci would be the small box of Tide, a powerful ignorance cleanser packed full of conservation crystals and the most docent-power-per-dollar that volunteering can buy! Luci is our resident Biodiversity Display expert and routinely takes on the task of teaching our visitors the importance of protecting the stability of our wild ecosystems. At only 17, Luc is a polished presenter and talented educator, capable of processing large amounts of information across biology, sociology, and popular culture and weaving what -at first- may seem as disparate ideas into cohesive, articulate conservation stories; this kid is an Ace and we at the PWM are lucky to have this conservationist firebrand as part of our ranks.
Both Reid and Luci are looking to study Marine Biology in the future and both have their eyes set on the Environmental Studies programs at the University of Hawai’i and Cal Poly Humboldt.
Like “wanting a pony” or “playing in the NBA,” there are hundreds-of-thousands of youth across the country who say they want to save dolphins/whales/x (insert cute endangered animal here), but that reality is both rare and incredibly hard to achieve for the majority of dreamers. However, for Senior Lead Docents Reid Harrison & Luci Hight, dreaming is just what they do when they’re not working; these two are “DO-ers” and the pride of both the PWM and the PHS Marine Science programs.
Reid and Luci spend up to 8-hours a week actively participating in the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of hundreds of injured and abandoned pinnipeds and other marine mammals for the globally acclaimed Marine Mammal Center Youth Crew, an elite volunteer opportunity earned by a handful of Bay Area teens each year. Once a week, the two Leads drive 50 miles down 101 to the Marin Headlands to work along with and learn from experts in Marine Mammalogy how to prepare and deliver food, clean pens, and assist with the veterinary care of sick and emaciated seals and sea lions rescued from over 600 miles of Northern California coastline. Their work is real, impactful, and making a difference in our community and the precious marine ecosystems on which we so deeply rely… And that’s just Monday night ;)
Reid has been bound to the ocean since he was a little boy. The son of Hawai’ian locals, the young thalassophile grew up loving the Nor Cal surf and sea; it’s a 100% certainty that when he’s not at school, volunteering, or working, the young waterman is out at Dillon beach charging a bomb or up in Bodega Bay dragging for stripers. At the PWM, Reid is one of our most experienced chinchilla handlers and has a special affinity for Kiara, our 11ft hypomelanistic Burmese python. Reid is also the first student that Instructor Tacata will call when a fellow docent needs support with an ocean-themed presentation. The young man’s persistently calm demeanor is a welcome balance to our often chaotic behind-the-scenes reality and Reid is a halcyon during times of distress at the Museum.
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Pound-for-pound, there has never been a docent at the PWM more powerful than Luci Hight. If environmental education were a detergent, Luci would be the small box of Tide, a powerful ignorance cleanser packed full of conservation crystals and the most docent-power-per-dollar that volunteering can buy! Luci is our resident Biodiversity Display expert and routinely takes on the task of teaching our visitors the importance of protecting the stability of our wild ecosystems. At only 17, Luc is a polished presenter and talented educator, capable of processing large amounts of information across biology, sociology, and popular culture and weaving what -at first- may seem as disparate ideas into cohesive, articulate conservation stories; this kid is an Ace and we at the PWM are lucky to have this conservationist firebrand as part of our ranks.
Both Reid and Luci are looking to study Marine Biology in the future and both have their eyes set on the Environmental Studies programs at the University of Hawai’i and Cal Poly Humboldt.
Charlie & Issy
Charles Scott & Isabella Prandi (Lead Docents - c/o '25)
The present and future of the PWM is in great hands, in no small part due to the excellence and dedication of our two 11th grade Lead Docents, Charles Scott and Isabella Prandi. Don’t let their youth and easy smiles fool you: Charlie and Issy are polished environmental educators who have established themselves in our Museum community as trusted leaders and have become role-models among their peers through the 100s of hours they have each spent mastering and honing their craft.
Of all the students who have been a part of our program’s 30+ year history, you'd have a hard time finding a docent with a PWM pedigree deeper than Charlie Scott. Charlie started his Museum career as a 1st grade summer camper and, shortly thereafter, became a regular volunteer at the PWM. The young keeper continued to work at the Museum through elementary and middle school: practicing the protocols, mastering the lexicon, and learning from the Leads of yesteryear… Charlie was properly gutting iguana enclosures, feeding snakes, and regularly presenting a dozen different Animal Ambassadors to the general public, all well before he learned to do long division or create his first diorama of a California mission.
Now, in his 10th year at the PWM, Charlie is a go-to Lead Docent who has earned the trust of Instructor Tacata as well the admiration of his fellow docents and is the first Lead to respond to the call of opening and closing the Tour… The Wildlife Museum is in this young man’s DNA and his passion for inspiring the next generation of conservationists is the steady beating heart of our program.
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Issy’s father recounts a story of the exact moment he knew the young zoophilist was destined to work with animals. While in Hawai’i and returning from a two-week work trip away from home, an exhausted Mr. Prandi disembarked from his plane to find his loving family waiting to greet him at the terminal. Issy, then a 3-year-old toddler, saw her dad at a distance and longingly called out to him across the causeway; her tiny legs began to trot as she deftly navigated the chaotic sea of caffeinated travelers and rolling carry-ons, a vibrating bumblebee buzzing towards her father’s outstretched arms, a girl with a singular, determined focus ready to give her papa what would be a tear-inducing-Hollywood-esque homecoming hug worthy of an episode of “This Is Us” (complete with orchestral strings and slow-motion cinematic framing)... Until she caught sight of a random lapdog in an adjacent waiting area, booked it over there like she was riding a nitrous-powered go-kart, and wrapped that dog in a hug that would make a 1500-pound brown bear feel inadequate. “Nice to see you, Dad, but DOG.” Lol!
Even among this unique cohort -a self-selected group of students who are all “animal-people”- Issy’s naturalistic intelligence rides high in comparison. Her highly (self-)curated presentations exude a palpable air of calm for our visiting public, even when presenting even our most-difficult-to-work-with Animal Ambassadors. She is also one-of-two Spanish-speaking bilingual Lead Docents on staff who is diligently working to translate the information on our tour and on displays to provide greater access for the growing number of Latino and Spanish-speaking families in our changing Petaluma community.
We at the PWM are lucky to have these two amazing young people lead our program over the next two years and our program’s future is bright with Charlie & Issy at the helm.
The present and future of the PWM is in great hands, in no small part due to the excellence and dedication of our two 11th grade Lead Docents, Charles Scott and Isabella Prandi. Don’t let their youth and easy smiles fool you: Charlie and Issy are polished environmental educators who have established themselves in our Museum community as trusted leaders and have become role-models among their peers through the 100s of hours they have each spent mastering and honing their craft.
Of all the students who have been a part of our program’s 30+ year history, you'd have a hard time finding a docent with a PWM pedigree deeper than Charlie Scott. Charlie started his Museum career as a 1st grade summer camper and, shortly thereafter, became a regular volunteer at the PWM. The young keeper continued to work at the Museum through elementary and middle school: practicing the protocols, mastering the lexicon, and learning from the Leads of yesteryear… Charlie was properly gutting iguana enclosures, feeding snakes, and regularly presenting a dozen different Animal Ambassadors to the general public, all well before he learned to do long division or create his first diorama of a California mission.
Now, in his 10th year at the PWM, Charlie is a go-to Lead Docent who has earned the trust of Instructor Tacata as well the admiration of his fellow docents and is the first Lead to respond to the call of opening and closing the Tour… The Wildlife Museum is in this young man’s DNA and his passion for inspiring the next generation of conservationists is the steady beating heart of our program.
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Issy’s father recounts a story of the exact moment he knew the young zoophilist was destined to work with animals. While in Hawai’i and returning from a two-week work trip away from home, an exhausted Mr. Prandi disembarked from his plane to find his loving family waiting to greet him at the terminal. Issy, then a 3-year-old toddler, saw her dad at a distance and longingly called out to him across the causeway; her tiny legs began to trot as she deftly navigated the chaotic sea of caffeinated travelers and rolling carry-ons, a vibrating bumblebee buzzing towards her father’s outstretched arms, a girl with a singular, determined focus ready to give her papa what would be a tear-inducing-Hollywood-esque homecoming hug worthy of an episode of “This Is Us” (complete with orchestral strings and slow-motion cinematic framing)... Until she caught sight of a random lapdog in an adjacent waiting area, booked it over there like she was riding a nitrous-powered go-kart, and wrapped that dog in a hug that would make a 1500-pound brown bear feel inadequate. “Nice to see you, Dad, but DOG.” Lol!
Even among this unique cohort -a self-selected group of students who are all “animal-people”- Issy’s naturalistic intelligence rides high in comparison. Her highly (self-)curated presentations exude a palpable air of calm for our visiting public, even when presenting even our most-difficult-to-work-with Animal Ambassadors. She is also one-of-two Spanish-speaking bilingual Lead Docents on staff who is diligently working to translate the information on our tour and on displays to provide greater access for the growing number of Latino and Spanish-speaking families in our changing Petaluma community.
We at the PWM are lucky to have these two amazing young people lead our program over the next two years and our program’s future is bright with Charlie & Issy at the helm.
President Camacho
Adam Camacho (President)
The non-profit Board of Directors of the Petaluma Wildlife Museum is, understandably, a diverse cast of characters. We are people passionate about a wide range of ideas and causes and articulate enough to describe exactly what we are passionate about into the wee hours of the evening, especially on Board Meeting nights!
President Camacho joined the Board in 2019 and is the "calming glue" (think Old Spice-scented Elmer's) that holds our cast of characters together, keeping us focused on our mission and always reminding us to keep our students -and practicality- at the top of our list of priorities. By day, Adam works in IT as a manager for Endsight in Berkeley/Napa, but after-hours, President Camacho dawns his cape-and-cowl and becomes a super-heroic advocate for the museum, its students, and its patrons.
Adam loves the Museum as it allows young adults to teach children and, in particular, lends valuable support to Instructor Phil Tacata, as a much appreciated colleague, mentor, and friend. Adam loves to go cruising on the weekend on his "Flying Brick" K100, devours any and everything sci-fi and fantasy, and is the man lucky enough to be married to Kris Camacho, PHS' 2020 teacher of the year.
Adam’s favorite animal to visit at the PWM is the American Kestrel, and his favorite non-PWM museum is the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.
The non-profit Board of Directors of the Petaluma Wildlife Museum is, understandably, a diverse cast of characters. We are people passionate about a wide range of ideas and causes and articulate enough to describe exactly what we are passionate about into the wee hours of the evening, especially on Board Meeting nights!
President Camacho joined the Board in 2019 and is the "calming glue" (think Old Spice-scented Elmer's) that holds our cast of characters together, keeping us focused on our mission and always reminding us to keep our students -and practicality- at the top of our list of priorities. By day, Adam works in IT as a manager for Endsight in Berkeley/Napa, but after-hours, President Camacho dawns his cape-and-cowl and becomes a super-heroic advocate for the museum, its students, and its patrons.
Adam loves the Museum as it allows young adults to teach children and, in particular, lends valuable support to Instructor Phil Tacata, as a much appreciated colleague, mentor, and friend. Adam loves to go cruising on the weekend on his "Flying Brick" K100, devours any and everything sci-fi and fantasy, and is the man lucky enough to be married to Kris Camacho, PHS' 2020 teacher of the year.
Adam’s favorite animal to visit at the PWM is the American Kestrel, and his favorite non-PWM museum is the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.
Robin
Robin Haines (Vice President/Director of Facilities)
The PWM staff is filled with Renaissance Women and Robin Haines might lead the pack. A North Bay native, Robin started her early adult life off in the field of law enforcement and, ultimately, spent 22 years as a firefighter for Alameda FD. Before that, in 1987, Robin served as a trainer for the marine mammals (seals and sea lions) at Marine World Africa USA and, soon after in 1989, transferred into the Elephant Department where she found her true love.
Robin looks back fondly on her days as pachyderm keeper and trainer and says they are some of the best days of her life. Robin spent almost every day of the next five years as one of the matriarchs of a herd of a dozen elephants. She started like everyone else in the business: just a dung beetle shoveling and cleaning up (when students ask her what a typical day-in-the-life of an animal keeper is like, her go-to answer is "90% cleaning up crap, 9% dealing with drama, 1% everything else that makes it all worth it"). After a short while she was walking elephants and then performing educational demonstrations. "It was by far the most amazing experience being around these massive yet gentle creatures," she remembers. Robin's goal is to share those kinds of moments, educate our students about conservation, and create a fascination of animals with generations to come.
Robin donates over 30 hours a week of her time as the Vice President and Facilities Manager of the PWM. She is also, along with our Animal Care Tech, one of the lead keepers of our small animal collection. Ms. Haines began volunteering at the PWM in 2019 and is incredibly proud of her daughter, Zoey, the Lead Docent for the Museum this current 2020-21 school year.
The PWM staff is filled with Renaissance Women and Robin Haines might lead the pack. A North Bay native, Robin started her early adult life off in the field of law enforcement and, ultimately, spent 22 years as a firefighter for Alameda FD. Before that, in 1987, Robin served as a trainer for the marine mammals (seals and sea lions) at Marine World Africa USA and, soon after in 1989, transferred into the Elephant Department where she found her true love.
Robin looks back fondly on her days as pachyderm keeper and trainer and says they are some of the best days of her life. Robin spent almost every day of the next five years as one of the matriarchs of a herd of a dozen elephants. She started like everyone else in the business: just a dung beetle shoveling and cleaning up (when students ask her what a typical day-in-the-life of an animal keeper is like, her go-to answer is "90% cleaning up crap, 9% dealing with drama, 1% everything else that makes it all worth it"). After a short while she was walking elephants and then performing educational demonstrations. "It was by far the most amazing experience being around these massive yet gentle creatures," she remembers. Robin's goal is to share those kinds of moments, educate our students about conservation, and create a fascination of animals with generations to come.
Robin donates over 30 hours a week of her time as the Vice President and Facilities Manager of the PWM. She is also, along with our Animal Care Tech, one of the lead keepers of our small animal collection. Ms. Haines began volunteering at the PWM in 2019 and is incredibly proud of her daughter, Zoey, the Lead Docent for the Museum this current 2020-21 school year.
Robert
Robert Barnes (Secretary)
Robert Barnes is a man of many talents and many lives: sculptor and creature designer at Lucasfilm/ILM, digital model-maker for 2K Games, curly-haired bottom-dweller and Purveyor of Punk for the electric eclectic rock band, Strange Cabbage... Yes, Robert is all of those things, but we here at the PWM know him as the "Father of the Mother of Dragons," a cool dude and an even cooler Dad.
Robert has been involved in some capacity with the PWM since the fall of 2012 when his eldest daughter, former Musuem All-Star and current Animal Care Tech, Issy Barnes, enrolled in the program as a wee freshman. Inspired to support the program in which his daughter was so passionately involved, Robert joined the PWM Board and lent his myriad talents to the program. Throughout the years, he's supervised and chaperoned dozens of Museum events and field trips, helped fix, upgrade, and install many of the enclosures and exhibits that are currently in use today (including the masterful southern rhino mount and sculpt he installed in our Africa exhibit back in 2019), and currently serves as our Board Secretary. Along the way, Robert, too, fell in love with reptiles and amphibians and has since become an avid herper and lover of all things cold-of-blood. As the saying goes, “Like daughter, like father <3”
2022 will mark a decade of service Robert has given the Museum and we are extremely fortunate and appreciative of his dedication to our kids and our program. The generations of young people that have passed through our doors owe him a nod of thanks, a smile of appreciation, and the universal Sign of the Horns; Rock on, Dragon Daddy... Rock on!
Robert Barnes is a man of many talents and many lives: sculptor and creature designer at Lucasfilm/ILM, digital model-maker for 2K Games, curly-haired bottom-dweller and Purveyor of Punk for the electric eclectic rock band, Strange Cabbage... Yes, Robert is all of those things, but we here at the PWM know him as the "Father of the Mother of Dragons," a cool dude and an even cooler Dad.
Robert has been involved in some capacity with the PWM since the fall of 2012 when his eldest daughter, former Musuem All-Star and current Animal Care Tech, Issy Barnes, enrolled in the program as a wee freshman. Inspired to support the program in which his daughter was so passionately involved, Robert joined the PWM Board and lent his myriad talents to the program. Throughout the years, he's supervised and chaperoned dozens of Museum events and field trips, helped fix, upgrade, and install many of the enclosures and exhibits that are currently in use today (including the masterful southern rhino mount and sculpt he installed in our Africa exhibit back in 2019), and currently serves as our Board Secretary. Along the way, Robert, too, fell in love with reptiles and amphibians and has since become an avid herper and lover of all things cold-of-blood. As the saying goes, “Like daughter, like father <3”
2022 will mark a decade of service Robert has given the Museum and we are extremely fortunate and appreciative of his dedication to our kids and our program. The generations of young people that have passed through our doors owe him a nod of thanks, a smile of appreciation, and the universal Sign of the Horns; Rock on, Dragon Daddy... Rock on!
Rebecca
Rebecca Abrams (Treasurer/ Collections Manager)
Rebecca Abrams, taught middle school science for eight years in Novato Unified. She joined the Museum Board in 2019. Rebecca has brought an incredibly adept, specialized, and valuable tool-set to our Museum in the form of her many years of experience as a museum preparator at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and in museum preparation at the California Academy of Sciences. Currently, Rebecca is earning her master's degree in Museum Sciences at San Francisco State University and has taken lead on the daunting task of exhibit and taxidermy curation at the PWM. Our museum has compiled over 30 years of donations and taxidermy and Rebecca has taken on the challenge of cataloguing our collections head-on; she's pretty awesome!
Rebecca appreciates the diverse opportunities and experiences that museums offer children and adults. In her personal life, she also enjoys an array of passions and interests spanning the worlds of ornithology, geology, baking, nature-based crafts, you name it! Though she loves the variety of animals both living and displayed at the PWM, the Greater Kudu is her favorite, and her favorite non-PWM museum is the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris, France. We at the PWM are lucky to have such a dedicated member and volunteer among our staff.
Rebecca Abrams, taught middle school science for eight years in Novato Unified. She joined the Museum Board in 2019. Rebecca has brought an incredibly adept, specialized, and valuable tool-set to our Museum in the form of her many years of experience as a museum preparator at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and in museum preparation at the California Academy of Sciences. Currently, Rebecca is earning her master's degree in Museum Sciences at San Francisco State University and has taken lead on the daunting task of exhibit and taxidermy curation at the PWM. Our museum has compiled over 30 years of donations and taxidermy and Rebecca has taken on the challenge of cataloguing our collections head-on; she's pretty awesome!
Rebecca appreciates the diverse opportunities and experiences that museums offer children and adults. In her personal life, she also enjoys an array of passions and interests spanning the worlds of ornithology, geology, baking, nature-based crafts, you name it! Though she loves the variety of animals both living and displayed at the PWM, the Greater Kudu is her favorite, and her favorite non-PWM museum is the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris, France. We at the PWM are lucky to have such a dedicated member and volunteer among our staff.
Abby
Abigail Frost (Board Member)
Abby has been a part of the PWM Family for most of her life as she was one of the last students to take 4 straight years of the Museum Management course. At the time of her graduation from PHS in 2020, Abby accumulated several thousand hours of volunteer time at the Museum; if there was an event, Abby Frost was there helping out!
Currently, as a young adult, Abby is studying at SRJC and volunteers her weekend hours at the Museum running the Gift Shop during Saturday Open House. A deft and clever artist, Abby has created dozens of stickers and pins of our beloved animals for the Gift Shop, as well as created the hand-painted and built carnival games in the PWM Courtyard enjoyed by so many of our young visitors.
Abby digs anime and anime soundtracks, comics and sequential art, appreciates Wiccan culture, and deeply loves each and every one of the animals here at her "second home." The PWM loves Abby, too.
Abby has been a part of the PWM Family for most of her life as she was one of the last students to take 4 straight years of the Museum Management course. At the time of her graduation from PHS in 2020, Abby accumulated several thousand hours of volunteer time at the Museum; if there was an event, Abby Frost was there helping out!
Currently, as a young adult, Abby is studying at SRJC and volunteers her weekend hours at the Museum running the Gift Shop during Saturday Open House. A deft and clever artist, Abby has created dozens of stickers and pins of our beloved animals for the Gift Shop, as well as created the hand-painted and built carnival games in the PWM Courtyard enjoyed by so many of our young visitors.
Abby digs anime and anime soundtracks, comics and sequential art, appreciates Wiccan culture, and deeply loves each and every one of the animals here at her "second home." The PWM loves Abby, too.
Fabian
Fabian Romo Macias (Board Member)
Yet another amazing PWM Alum from the Class of 2020, you'll be hard pressed to find a harder-working and bigger-hearted volunteer than Fabian. Fabian was a late-joiner to the PWM Family, only enrolling in the Museum Management class for the first time during his Junior year, but his impact for the next two years was felt immediately. As a docent, Fabian had an incredibly creative mind for presentations and, even more impressively, the discipline and initiative to self-research topics and create fun, interesting, and imaginative Ambassador Animal presentations to children of all ages.
Currently, Fabian is a student at SRJC and volunteers at the Museum as a docent supervisor on the weekends. He is currently working to build connections between the PWM and the myriad of associations and groups found in the Petaluma Downtown District. We are proud to have this wonderful young man back to help shape the future of our program in our community.
Yet another amazing PWM Alum from the Class of 2020, you'll be hard pressed to find a harder-working and bigger-hearted volunteer than Fabian. Fabian was a late-joiner to the PWM Family, only enrolling in the Museum Management class for the first time during his Junior year, but his impact for the next two years was felt immediately. As a docent, Fabian had an incredibly creative mind for presentations and, even more impressively, the discipline and initiative to self-research topics and create fun, interesting, and imaginative Ambassador Animal presentations to children of all ages.
Currently, Fabian is a student at SRJC and volunteers at the Museum as a docent supervisor on the weekends. He is currently working to build connections between the PWM and the myriad of associations and groups found in the Petaluma Downtown District. We are proud to have this wonderful young man back to help shape the future of our program in our community.
Tacata
Philip Tacata (Board Member/Instructor of Classes)
Phil Tacata is the Instructor of Classes at the PWM and is also the Director of the Marine Science program at Petaluma High. Mr. Tacata has, thus far, led a journeyman's career in education; after spending a year in the Bering Sea as a fisheries biologist for the National Marine Fisheries Service, he started teaching in January, 2000, as a young and brash 23-year-old middle school Math & Science teacher at Alum Rock Middle School in San Jose, CA. Since then, he's taught Science at two charter middle schools in Washington, D.C., taught Biology at his hometown rival high school in Daly City and, since 2014, has taught Biology, Marine Science, and Museum Management at Petaluma High School.
In 2018, Mr. Tacata received double honors as the California League of High Schools Teacher of the Year for Sonoma/Mendocino/Lake/Humboldt counties as well as a finalist for the Sonoma County Office of Education Teacher of the Year (specifically for his work revitalizing and developing the aforementioned Petaluma High School Marine Science Program). Shortly after, Mr. Tacata was offered the position of "PWM Instructor of Classes" with the hope that he could use his experience, vision, and passion to re-ignite, develop, and grow the Wildlife program just as he had done a few year earlier for the school Marine Science program. Currently, in his 5th year in charge of the PWM, he hopes it's on its way to returning to its robust, former glory.
Mr. Tacata recognizes the pedagogical potential and transformational power of the Museum Management program, both as a community portal for developing leadership skills in teens as well as being a unique environmental education tool that has taught (and continues to teach) concepts of wildlife conservation to generations of children here in the North Bay region. He prides himself in shaping the program to give his kids the kind of structural support and opportunities his teachers failed to afford him when he was a teen. Tacata, a popular and unorthodox teacher on campus, considers himself a "shaper of experiences" and his classes feature -at their core- some of the most ambitious, intricate, personalized, and potentially life-changing experiences for teens at Petaluma High; his labs are visceral and memorable, his lectures passionate and hilarious, and just being around the guy can, at times, feel like being at a snort-laughing comedy show with the production value of a viral video and and the soundtrack of a made-for-Hallmark movie (all at the same time). Oh yeah... He also runs some of the most legendary over-night field trip expeditions in the North Bay (just ask his alumni).
Mr. Tacata also likes to teach his kids some pretty cool stuff... Like Mr. Head (and Mr. Pawlan) before him, Tacata constantly looks for opportunities to "WOW" his students by showing them cool exotic animals, wicked skulls and pelts, or crazy-wild animal videos. He also never shies away from being real with his kids and will always and openly take time to discuss and dissect issues of conservation in the context of race and racism, environmental justice, and big-money politics. Ultimately, his goal is to expose his kids to things so amazing, so beautiful, and so magical that they can't help but end up seeing the world through a different lens.
Mr. Tacata knows the PWM is HOME for a very special group of students here at Petaluma High -the next generation of American conservationists- and has pledged to fiercely protect his students and positively develop this very special program during his tenure as Instructor.
Phil Tacata is the Instructor of Classes at the PWM and is also the Director of the Marine Science program at Petaluma High. Mr. Tacata has, thus far, led a journeyman's career in education; after spending a year in the Bering Sea as a fisheries biologist for the National Marine Fisheries Service, he started teaching in January, 2000, as a young and brash 23-year-old middle school Math & Science teacher at Alum Rock Middle School in San Jose, CA. Since then, he's taught Science at two charter middle schools in Washington, D.C., taught Biology at his hometown rival high school in Daly City and, since 2014, has taught Biology, Marine Science, and Museum Management at Petaluma High School.
In 2018, Mr. Tacata received double honors as the California League of High Schools Teacher of the Year for Sonoma/Mendocino/Lake/Humboldt counties as well as a finalist for the Sonoma County Office of Education Teacher of the Year (specifically for his work revitalizing and developing the aforementioned Petaluma High School Marine Science Program). Shortly after, Mr. Tacata was offered the position of "PWM Instructor of Classes" with the hope that he could use his experience, vision, and passion to re-ignite, develop, and grow the Wildlife program just as he had done a few year earlier for the school Marine Science program. Currently, in his 5th year in charge of the PWM, he hopes it's on its way to returning to its robust, former glory.
Mr. Tacata recognizes the pedagogical potential and transformational power of the Museum Management program, both as a community portal for developing leadership skills in teens as well as being a unique environmental education tool that has taught (and continues to teach) concepts of wildlife conservation to generations of children here in the North Bay region. He prides himself in shaping the program to give his kids the kind of structural support and opportunities his teachers failed to afford him when he was a teen. Tacata, a popular and unorthodox teacher on campus, considers himself a "shaper of experiences" and his classes feature -at their core- some of the most ambitious, intricate, personalized, and potentially life-changing experiences for teens at Petaluma High; his labs are visceral and memorable, his lectures passionate and hilarious, and just being around the guy can, at times, feel like being at a snort-laughing comedy show with the production value of a viral video and and the soundtrack of a made-for-Hallmark movie (all at the same time). Oh yeah... He also runs some of the most legendary over-night field trip expeditions in the North Bay (just ask his alumni).
Mr. Tacata also likes to teach his kids some pretty cool stuff... Like Mr. Head (and Mr. Pawlan) before him, Tacata constantly looks for opportunities to "WOW" his students by showing them cool exotic animals, wicked skulls and pelts, or crazy-wild animal videos. He also never shies away from being real with his kids and will always and openly take time to discuss and dissect issues of conservation in the context of race and racism, environmental justice, and big-money politics. Ultimately, his goal is to expose his kids to things so amazing, so beautiful, and so magical that they can't help but end up seeing the world through a different lens.
Mr. Tacata knows the PWM is HOME for a very special group of students here at Petaluma High -the next generation of American conservationists- and has pledged to fiercely protect his students and positively develop this very special program during his tenure as Instructor.
Issy
Isabelle Barnes (Board Member/Live Animal Curator)
The Petaluma Wildlife Museum is both excited and proud to welcome back c/o 2016 alumnus, Isabelle Barnes. Issy graduated from Cal Poly in 2020 with a degree in Animal Sciences (with a minor in Biology) and is looking to enter grad school in the field of Conservation Biology sometime in the near future. Until then, Issy will serve as our Animal Care Tech charged with the ultimate care and welfare of our small animal zoo as well the proper training of our student docents in all-things-animal husbandry.
During her time as a teen-aged docent in the Museum Management program, Issy recognized and developed her passion for animal care and wildlife conservation and that experience set the pathway for her burgeoning career. She was a star at the PWM in high school, won county honors for her bearded dragon breeding program, and, in her words, "would've hated high school without it (the PWM)." Issy credits the Museum with giving her real-world skills and a social group of like-minded individuals with which to bond, and is proud to be back home contributing to the growth and development of our next generation of docent conservationists.
Welcome Home, Khaleesi ;)
The Petaluma Wildlife Museum is both excited and proud to welcome back c/o 2016 alumnus, Isabelle Barnes. Issy graduated from Cal Poly in 2020 with a degree in Animal Sciences (with a minor in Biology) and is looking to enter grad school in the field of Conservation Biology sometime in the near future. Until then, Issy will serve as our Animal Care Tech charged with the ultimate care and welfare of our small animal zoo as well the proper training of our student docents in all-things-animal husbandry.
During her time as a teen-aged docent in the Museum Management program, Issy recognized and developed her passion for animal care and wildlife conservation and that experience set the pathway for her burgeoning career. She was a star at the PWM in high school, won county honors for her bearded dragon breeding program, and, in her words, "would've hated high school without it (the PWM)." Issy credits the Museum with giving her real-world skills and a social group of like-minded individuals with which to bond, and is proud to be back home contributing to the growth and development of our next generation of docent conservationists.
Welcome Home, Khaleesi ;)
Jack
Jack Dalton (Assistant Animal Care Technician)
Jack is a proud Museum alum from the class of 2020. While he only spent his Senior year as part of the Museum Management Class, he quickly became a trusted leader in the PWM Family and ended the year as a superstar docent, loved and respected by his peers. Jack is currently a student at SRJC and works for the PWM on the weekends as our Assistant Animal Care Tech; he helps to maintain the general health and well-being of our small animal zoo and serves as a deft and experienced mentor for our student docents who often turn to Jack when they have questions about anything from husbandry to how to deliver a certain part of The Tour.
Jack has always had a passion for wildlife and the natural world and after taking both Tacata's Marine Science course and Camacho's AP Environmental Science Class in his Junior year at PHS, Jack was inspired to apply for a coveted teen volunteer spot at the Marine Mammal Center of Sausalito, which he subsequently received. At the MMC, Jack participated in real-world marine conservation, learning and executing a plethora of skills to rescue, rehabilitate, and release hundreds of marine pinnipeds stranded or injured along the Northern California coastline. He brings this wonderful set of skills, experiences, and his passion for conservation back home to the PWM to help our next generation of conservationists learn the skills and techniques they need to keep our small animal zoo healthy and happy.
Animals happy; check... Students learning and growing from one of their own; check... PWM fortunate and proud to have Jack back; check.
Jack is a proud Museum alum from the class of 2020. While he only spent his Senior year as part of the Museum Management Class, he quickly became a trusted leader in the PWM Family and ended the year as a superstar docent, loved and respected by his peers. Jack is currently a student at SRJC and works for the PWM on the weekends as our Assistant Animal Care Tech; he helps to maintain the general health and well-being of our small animal zoo and serves as a deft and experienced mentor for our student docents who often turn to Jack when they have questions about anything from husbandry to how to deliver a certain part of The Tour.
Jack has always had a passion for wildlife and the natural world and after taking both Tacata's Marine Science course and Camacho's AP Environmental Science Class in his Junior year at PHS, Jack was inspired to apply for a coveted teen volunteer spot at the Marine Mammal Center of Sausalito, which he subsequently received. At the MMC, Jack participated in real-world marine conservation, learning and executing a plethora of skills to rescue, rehabilitate, and release hundreds of marine pinnipeds stranded or injured along the Northern California coastline. He brings this wonderful set of skills, experiences, and his passion for conservation back home to the PWM to help our next generation of conservationists learn the skills and techniques they need to keep our small animal zoo healthy and happy.
Animals happy; check... Students learning and growing from one of their own; check... PWM fortunate and proud to have Jack back; check.
Karen
Karen Payne (Director of Summer Camp)
Karen Payne first experienced the wonders of the PWM over twenty years ago when she moved to the North Bay and regularly brought her two young children to the Museum. Years later, she met Phil Tacata, the instructor of her daughter's Marine Science class at PHS, and she became an instrumental parent supporter of the MarS program in charge of fundraising and event planning for the class. After Mr. Tacata became the instructor of the Museum Management program in 2018, Karen reconnected with Phil and brought her twenty-five year depth of knowledge and career experience as a specialist in early childhood education over to the PWM as the new Summer Camp Director. In addition to her Camp Director duties, Karen is also a Pre-K teacher in Marin, a part-time lecturer in the Education Dept. at SSU, and an Event Coordinator at Oh Splendid Day (a Sonoma County based wedding and event coordination company). On top of all of this, Karen is pursuing a doctorate in Education through Walden University; the PWM is so lucky to have such an amazing, talented, and dedicated member!
Karen appreciates the transformative potential of museums on the early identity-development of children and fully understands the importance of Petaluma's "hidden treasure" in our North Bay community. As Summer Camp Director, she serves to inspire curiosity in our K-6 campers, helping to foster and develop within them a life-long interest in nature, conservation, and preservation of the local and global environment.
Karen Payne first experienced the wonders of the PWM over twenty years ago when she moved to the North Bay and regularly brought her two young children to the Museum. Years later, she met Phil Tacata, the instructor of her daughter's Marine Science class at PHS, and she became an instrumental parent supporter of the MarS program in charge of fundraising and event planning for the class. After Mr. Tacata became the instructor of the Museum Management program in 2018, Karen reconnected with Phil and brought her twenty-five year depth of knowledge and career experience as a specialist in early childhood education over to the PWM as the new Summer Camp Director. In addition to her Camp Director duties, Karen is also a Pre-K teacher in Marin, a part-time lecturer in the Education Dept. at SSU, and an Event Coordinator at Oh Splendid Day (a Sonoma County based wedding and event coordination company). On top of all of this, Karen is pursuing a doctorate in Education through Walden University; the PWM is so lucky to have such an amazing, talented, and dedicated member!
Karen appreciates the transformative potential of museums on the early identity-development of children and fully understands the importance of Petaluma's "hidden treasure" in our North Bay community. As Summer Camp Director, she serves to inspire curiosity in our K-6 campers, helping to foster and develop within them a life-long interest in nature, conservation, and preservation of the local and global environment.