Charlie & Addi
Charles Scott & Addison Newman (Lead Docents, c/o 2025)
-->Bios coming, soon!
-->Bios coming, soon!
Issy P, Keys, & Darcy
Isabella Prandi, Keylie Laumann, & Maya D'arcy (Lead Docents, c/o 2025)
-->Bios coming, soon!
-->Bios coming, soon!
Vita & Kory
Vita Langst & Kory Huppert (Lead Keepers, c/o 2025)
-->Bios coming, soon!
-->Bios coming, soon!
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 General Manager for Endsight in 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 General Manager for Endsight in 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/Lead Animal Care Tech)
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.
Tracy Perlich (Treasurer)
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!
Cyndney Doyle (Secretary/Animal Care Tech)
Bri Everhart (Animal Care Tech/Scheduling Coordinator)
Zoey
Zoey Haines (Board Member)
Hello, Zoey here! If you think I look familiar you might recognize me from the "Former Lead Docents" tab. It’s been a.couple years since my graduation from the museum in 2022, but this is a program that continues to shape my life to this day.
Currently, I am a board member and back up animal care tech for the Petaluma Wildlife Museum. I volunteer for a variety of museum events, have been working on the fish tank in the lobby, and have represented the museum at several American Association of Zoo Keepers conferences. I attend SRJC full time with plans to transfer to Cal Poly Humboldt to earn a Bachelor's Degree in Zoology with a minor in Marine Biology. My adventures in college thus far have led me to the symphonic band -where I continue to nurture my love of music- to the STEM laboratories on campus (I’m still keepin’ those A’s), and to winning a speech competition while in communications.
That being said, the public speaking style of communications competitions wasn’t quite to my taste as much as being a docent in the museum was. So I returned to my roots in both speaking and working with animals, building on the foundations the museum gave me by becoming a tour guide at Safari West. I absolutely love being able to introduce people to the animals this world has, especially at one of the places very close to my heart, and it doesn’t hurt knowing how to drive a stick shift either ;)
Outside of school and work and museum, I continue to volunteer at Classroom Safari and The Marine Mammal Center, where I assist in teaching the newer volunteers and Youth Crew members. I am, of course, still learning myself. I’ve delved into the preparation and administration of medications for pinniped patients at the center, I’ve been expanding my artistic palate with some new mediums, and my versatility with a bow and arrow now includes acting as my own personal pest control in my chicken coops.
Speaking of, I have aged out of 4-H but I am still showing chickens, quail, and pigeons in the open division. My mother and I specialize in Belgian Bearded D'Uccles, Sumatras, and Phoenix (among caring for the litany of other pets that we have). My animals and my plants bring me great joy. I certainly miss them when I’m traveling but I've been on a couple amazing trips recently. The highlight for me was spending a week on the South African savanna at the Zulu Nyala preserve. I gotta say, the idea of guiding in Africa is quite an appealing one. I’m keeping it, and several internship opportunities, in mind for after I finish my degree.
I guess -in short- I continue pursuing the goals, hobbies, and interests that I love. I’m still aiming for a career in animal training and behavior, with environmental education at its core. Even though that will take me far away from Petaluma one day I always plan to have the museum relevant in my life. This program has completed its mission to the fullest extent in my case. I am inspired.
Now to protect.
Hello, Zoey here! If you think I look familiar you might recognize me from the "Former Lead Docents" tab. It’s been a.couple years since my graduation from the museum in 2022, but this is a program that continues to shape my life to this day.
Currently, I am a board member and back up animal care tech for the Petaluma Wildlife Museum. I volunteer for a variety of museum events, have been working on the fish tank in the lobby, and have represented the museum at several American Association of Zoo Keepers conferences. I attend SRJC full time with plans to transfer to Cal Poly Humboldt to earn a Bachelor's Degree in Zoology with a minor in Marine Biology. My adventures in college thus far have led me to the symphonic band -where I continue to nurture my love of music- to the STEM laboratories on campus (I’m still keepin’ those A’s), and to winning a speech competition while in communications.
That being said, the public speaking style of communications competitions wasn’t quite to my taste as much as being a docent in the museum was. So I returned to my roots in both speaking and working with animals, building on the foundations the museum gave me by becoming a tour guide at Safari West. I absolutely love being able to introduce people to the animals this world has, especially at one of the places very close to my heart, and it doesn’t hurt knowing how to drive a stick shift either ;)
Outside of school and work and museum, I continue to volunteer at Classroom Safari and The Marine Mammal Center, where I assist in teaching the newer volunteers and Youth Crew members. I am, of course, still learning myself. I’ve delved into the preparation and administration of medications for pinniped patients at the center, I’ve been expanding my artistic palate with some new mediums, and my versatility with a bow and arrow now includes acting as my own personal pest control in my chicken coops.
Speaking of, I have aged out of 4-H but I am still showing chickens, quail, and pigeons in the open division. My mother and I specialize in Belgian Bearded D'Uccles, Sumatras, and Phoenix (among caring for the litany of other pets that we have). My animals and my plants bring me great joy. I certainly miss them when I’m traveling but I've been on a couple amazing trips recently. The highlight for me was spending a week on the South African savanna at the Zulu Nyala preserve. I gotta say, the idea of guiding in Africa is quite an appealing one. I’m keeping it, and several internship opportunities, in mind for after I finish my degree.
I guess -in short- I continue pursuing the goals, hobbies, and interests that I love. I’m still aiming for a career in animal training and behavior, with environmental education at its core. Even though that will take me far away from Petaluma one day I always plan to have the museum relevant in my life. This program has completed its mission to the fullest extent in my case. I am inspired.
Now to protect.
Abby
Abigail Frost (Board Member/Host)
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.
Terri
Theresa Barclay (Board Member/Collections Manager)
Terri attributes the PWM for jumpstarting her love and passion for natural history museums thanks to her supportive parents recognizing her interest in wildlife and enrolling her into the summer camp when she was a kid. She later transferred into the PHS district purely so she could become a docent when she reached high school age, and she did! From 2001-2004, the museum was a second home for her and she loved every minute of it (you could always find her there when she wasn't in another class).
After graduating from PHS, she started her undergrad as an intended film major at UC Santa Cruz. She came home to Sonoma County to continue her education at SRJC, reignited her passion for biology, and became a tour guide at Safari West. Terri eventually transferred to UC Berkeley where she completed her B.A. double majoring in Integrative Biology and Anthropology. In her final semester at Berkeley, she began volunteering at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ) as a curatorial assistant. With no immediate plans after graduation, Terri stuck around the MVZ as a herpetology curatorial assistant and prep lab assistant. As luck would have it, the MVZ Preparator and Prep Lab Manager position became available. She was chosen to fill the spot and has been there for over a decade. As a museum preparator, Terri helps create and process specimens to be archived in the MVZ collection as skeletons, study skins, and fluid specimens. She is able to process over 1,000 specimens a year thanks to the help of her Dermestid beetle colony and her amazing undergraduate lab assistants. Terri loves that this job enables her to mentor students and gives them unique hands-on opportunities to observe different species of animals.
Terri feels like PWM has given her so much and it was the catalyst that led her on her education and career path. She is ecstatic to have the opportunity to give back as part of the Board.
Terri attributes the PWM for jumpstarting her love and passion for natural history museums thanks to her supportive parents recognizing her interest in wildlife and enrolling her into the summer camp when she was a kid. She later transferred into the PHS district purely so she could become a docent when she reached high school age, and she did! From 2001-2004, the museum was a second home for her and she loved every minute of it (you could always find her there when she wasn't in another class).
After graduating from PHS, she started her undergrad as an intended film major at UC Santa Cruz. She came home to Sonoma County to continue her education at SRJC, reignited her passion for biology, and became a tour guide at Safari West. Terri eventually transferred to UC Berkeley where she completed her B.A. double majoring in Integrative Biology and Anthropology. In her final semester at Berkeley, she began volunteering at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ) as a curatorial assistant. With no immediate plans after graduation, Terri stuck around the MVZ as a herpetology curatorial assistant and prep lab assistant. As luck would have it, the MVZ Preparator and Prep Lab Manager position became available. She was chosen to fill the spot and has been there for over a decade. As a museum preparator, Terri helps create and process specimens to be archived in the MVZ collection as skeletons, study skins, and fluid specimens. She is able to process over 1,000 specimens a year thanks to the help of her Dermestid beetle colony and her amazing undergraduate lab assistants. Terri loves that this job enables her to mentor students and gives them unique hands-on opportunities to observe different species of animals.
Terri feels like PWM has given her so much and it was the catalyst that led her on her education and career path. She is ecstatic to have the opportunity to give back as part of the Board.
Tacata
Philip Tacata (Board Member/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.
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.
Michelle Walters (Board Member/Instructor)
--> Bio coming, soon!
--> Bio coming, soon!
Bella Sessi (Animal Care Tech 2019-2021, Board Member 2023-Current)
Proud Penngrove native, Isabella Sessi (c/o 2017), has spent almost half of her life dedicated to the PWM and its mission of inspiring the next generation of conservationists. Bella was a 4-year member of the Museum Management program, an all-star docent involved in every aspect of the program: student, docent, leader, keeper, presenter, camp counselor, you name it... Bella did it all with excellence, mastery, and a heart of gratitude. Bella has mentioned in several interviews with the Press Democrat & Argus Courier how her involvement in the Wildlife Museum shaped her life-path, that the Museum community was responsible not only for her academic development but provided a supportive social structure for a young introvert dealing with the grief of losing a parent, a place where she met life-long friends through common interests and shared passions, and a place where she first met the animals she credits with "saving her life." (www.petaluma360.com/article/news/petaluma-wildlife-museum-struggles-to-raise-funds/)
However, there is no interview, no newspaper article, or even a water-cooler rumor that ever mentioned the fact that it was Bella Sessi who saved our Museum... Until now.
After graduating from PHS, Bella began attending classes at the local JC. She was still heavily involved in the Museum as a volunteer and, that summer, joined our adult staff performing double duties as Summer Camp Counselor and Assistant Camp Director. Mid-year, our Animal Care Tech had to vacate the position and, luckily for us, Bella was available to take over in a snap. She immediately (and obsessively) began to observe and re-catalogue each of the animals of our collection, spending hours adjusting, researching, and creating new husbandry protocols that took the level of care and husbandry of our zoo to new heights. She integrated her work schedule with that of our docents (a common practice now at the PWM) so that she could give them first-hand instruction as well as first-hand supervision, ensuring that each animal was weighed weekly, defecations were recorded daily, and proper diet, humidities, and temperatures were being controlled and measured. At first, veteran docents thought it was a bit of over-kill, but they couldn't have been more wrong.
In January of 2020, one of our snakes had a terribly abnormal defecation, abruptly began wasting away, and died shortly after. The snake was towards the end of its normal life-span and its death, in generations-past, would've been passed over and attributed to old age. But not by Bella: her keen sense of observation and the hard data she'd been collecting on each of the animals in our zoo pointed to something much more nefarious. Bella alerted the Museum Board and received clearance to obtain a necropsy on the recently deceased snake. She sent the ophidian north to the world-renowned UC Davis Veterinary Hospital to have the procedure performed and when the results came back, the news was devastating: the snake had died of a parasitic Cryptosporidium infection, a fast spreading intestinal protozoan that causes death in 100% of the snakes and lizards infected. Crypto infections have been known to wipe out whole zoo collections and reptile breeding facilities and, if not detected, the plague would've torn through our zoo and taken >80% of our live animal collection -over 50 different varieties of snakes and lizards- with it.
And then it got worse...
In March of 2020, California began what was to be an 18-month Covid shutdown due to the global pandemic. Being a public school student-run organization, the bulk of our student workforce had been effectively eliminated; our small animal zoo, facing an internal epidemic and an external pandemic, was under dire straights and serious talks of shutting down the program and euthanizing the live-animal collection began to take place behind closed doors. Bella stood up for our animals and program, insisted that we could simultaneously deal with the zoonotic epidemic and the actual pandemic at the same time, and even offered to officially quit her job as Care Tech and volunteer her time and expertise for free (and, no, of course we wouldn't allow her to do that)!
On the heels of an unbelievably successful community-supported crowdfunding drive, Bella took lead (along with amazing VP Robin Haines) on organizing and supervising adult volunteers to begin the year-and-a-half process of eradicating our live animal collection of the Crypto infection as well as executing -without our student workforce- the daily husbandry needed by our animals. Bells and her volunteers meticulously collected and prepped fecal samples TWICE from over 45 reptiles in our collection, sent them across the country to get tested, and gutted and sterilized every inch of our museum using a molarity of hydrogen peroxide toxic enough to bleach your skin alabaster and make you blind. In the meantime, she and Robin completely revamped our animal handling and quarantine protocols to meet-or-exceed that of the best zoos in our area. She also re-wrote our comprehensive animal care guide to reflect our new protocols and procedures. After eighteen lonely-and-gut-wrenching months of intense daily husbandry, our museum lost almost 25% of its live animal collection to the parasite, but it could've been much, MUCH worse. On the verge of permanently closing only a year and a half before, our Museum program -and our animals- started the 2021-22 school year happy, healthy, and thriving due to the super-heroic efforts of Bella, Robin, and our small, dedicated army of adult volunteers.
Currently, Bella is a first-year transfer at Humboldt State University majoring in Zoology. She is thinking about a career in teaching (in which Instructor Tacata thinks she'd be incredible) but is also looking into veterinary school after graduation. Like many PWM alum, Bells has continued to volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center as an adult assisting with pinniped rescue and rehabilitation, a passion project she first started as a high school teen as part of their esteemed "Youth Crew" volunteer program. She also continues to volunteer as an assistant keeper and presenter for Petaluma's local traveling environmental education institutions, Classroom Safari & Safari Encounters, and has also volunteered for Wildcare of San Rafael (a wildlife rescue, rehab, and rehabilitation organization in Marin County).
Our current and future students -the hundreds that will go through our program over the next decade- students that will fall in love with our animals, find their life-long friends, and teach our community's children some of the most important lessons of their lives, they all owe Bella Sessi and her selfless dedication to our animals and this program for gifting them the opportunity to do so.
Bella believes the Museum saved her. Now you know: Bella saved us, too.
Proud Penngrove native, Isabella Sessi (c/o 2017), has spent almost half of her life dedicated to the PWM and its mission of inspiring the next generation of conservationists. Bella was a 4-year member of the Museum Management program, an all-star docent involved in every aspect of the program: student, docent, leader, keeper, presenter, camp counselor, you name it... Bella did it all with excellence, mastery, and a heart of gratitude. Bella has mentioned in several interviews with the Press Democrat & Argus Courier how her involvement in the Wildlife Museum shaped her life-path, that the Museum community was responsible not only for her academic development but provided a supportive social structure for a young introvert dealing with the grief of losing a parent, a place where she met life-long friends through common interests and shared passions, and a place where she first met the animals she credits with "saving her life." (www.petaluma360.com/article/news/petaluma-wildlife-museum-struggles-to-raise-funds/)
However, there is no interview, no newspaper article, or even a water-cooler rumor that ever mentioned the fact that it was Bella Sessi who saved our Museum... Until now.
After graduating from PHS, Bella began attending classes at the local JC. She was still heavily involved in the Museum as a volunteer and, that summer, joined our adult staff performing double duties as Summer Camp Counselor and Assistant Camp Director. Mid-year, our Animal Care Tech had to vacate the position and, luckily for us, Bella was available to take over in a snap. She immediately (and obsessively) began to observe and re-catalogue each of the animals of our collection, spending hours adjusting, researching, and creating new husbandry protocols that took the level of care and husbandry of our zoo to new heights. She integrated her work schedule with that of our docents (a common practice now at the PWM) so that she could give them first-hand instruction as well as first-hand supervision, ensuring that each animal was weighed weekly, defecations were recorded daily, and proper diet, humidities, and temperatures were being controlled and measured. At first, veteran docents thought it was a bit of over-kill, but they couldn't have been more wrong.
In January of 2020, one of our snakes had a terribly abnormal defecation, abruptly began wasting away, and died shortly after. The snake was towards the end of its normal life-span and its death, in generations-past, would've been passed over and attributed to old age. But not by Bella: her keen sense of observation and the hard data she'd been collecting on each of the animals in our zoo pointed to something much more nefarious. Bella alerted the Museum Board and received clearance to obtain a necropsy on the recently deceased snake. She sent the ophidian north to the world-renowned UC Davis Veterinary Hospital to have the procedure performed and when the results came back, the news was devastating: the snake had died of a parasitic Cryptosporidium infection, a fast spreading intestinal protozoan that causes death in 100% of the snakes and lizards infected. Crypto infections have been known to wipe out whole zoo collections and reptile breeding facilities and, if not detected, the plague would've torn through our zoo and taken >80% of our live animal collection -over 50 different varieties of snakes and lizards- with it.
And then it got worse...
In March of 2020, California began what was to be an 18-month Covid shutdown due to the global pandemic. Being a public school student-run organization, the bulk of our student workforce had been effectively eliminated; our small animal zoo, facing an internal epidemic and an external pandemic, was under dire straights and serious talks of shutting down the program and euthanizing the live-animal collection began to take place behind closed doors. Bella stood up for our animals and program, insisted that we could simultaneously deal with the zoonotic epidemic and the actual pandemic at the same time, and even offered to officially quit her job as Care Tech and volunteer her time and expertise for free (and, no, of course we wouldn't allow her to do that)!
On the heels of an unbelievably successful community-supported crowdfunding drive, Bella took lead (along with amazing VP Robin Haines) on organizing and supervising adult volunteers to begin the year-and-a-half process of eradicating our live animal collection of the Crypto infection as well as executing -without our student workforce- the daily husbandry needed by our animals. Bells and her volunteers meticulously collected and prepped fecal samples TWICE from over 45 reptiles in our collection, sent them across the country to get tested, and gutted and sterilized every inch of our museum using a molarity of hydrogen peroxide toxic enough to bleach your skin alabaster and make you blind. In the meantime, she and Robin completely revamped our animal handling and quarantine protocols to meet-or-exceed that of the best zoos in our area. She also re-wrote our comprehensive animal care guide to reflect our new protocols and procedures. After eighteen lonely-and-gut-wrenching months of intense daily husbandry, our museum lost almost 25% of its live animal collection to the parasite, but it could've been much, MUCH worse. On the verge of permanently closing only a year and a half before, our Museum program -and our animals- started the 2021-22 school year happy, healthy, and thriving due to the super-heroic efforts of Bella, Robin, and our small, dedicated army of adult volunteers.
Currently, Bella is a first-year transfer at Humboldt State University majoring in Zoology. She is thinking about a career in teaching (in which Instructor Tacata thinks she'd be incredible) but is also looking into veterinary school after graduation. Like many PWM alum, Bells has continued to volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center as an adult assisting with pinniped rescue and rehabilitation, a passion project she first started as a high school teen as part of their esteemed "Youth Crew" volunteer program. She also continues to volunteer as an assistant keeper and presenter for Petaluma's local traveling environmental education institutions, Classroom Safari & Safari Encounters, and has also volunteered for Wildcare of San Rafael (a wildlife rescue, rehab, and rehabilitation organization in Marin County).
Our current and future students -the hundreds that will go through our program over the next decade- students that will fall in love with our animals, find their life-long friends, and teach our community's children some of the most important lessons of their lives, they all owe Bella Sessi and her selfless dedication to our animals and this program for gifting them the opportunity to do so.
Bella believes the Museum saved her. Now you know: Bella saved us, too.