Legacy Unveiled: A Cherished Bond with Mrs. Wendy Paulson in Lower School
by Anne Metcalf ‘79
This article is excerpted from a conversation between Potomac alumna Anne Metcalf ‘79 and her second grade teacher, Wendy Paulson. A graduate of Wellesley College, Mrs. Paulson taught at Potomac in the early 1970s. She went on to teach in Illinois and New York public schools and hold leadership positions with nonprofits in the conservation sector, serving as chair of the Illinois and New York chapters of The Nature Conservancy, vice chair of the Conservancy’s international Board of Governors, chair emerita of Rare, and educational associate of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. In addition, Mrs. Paulson is a current or past member of the National Council of the Student Conservation Association, the National Forum on Children & Nature, the American Bird Conservancy advisory council, BirdLife International, the Audubon US Stewardship Council, Openlands, and the Field Museum of Natural History. She has presided over two community conservation organizations, authored a nature activity series for children, edited a conservation newsletter for 10 years, and been a long-time participant in prairie and savanna restoration. In 1986, Wendy Paulson and her husband Hank co-founded the Bobolink Foundation, whose grantmaking focuses on the conservation of landscapes and wildlife, especially in grasslands and coastal areas throughout the Americas.
Anne Metcalf is the founder and principal of Metcalf Federal Relations, which focuses on obtaining federal funding and issues advocacy for organizations that serve and enrich their communities. The Field Museum of Natural History, where she and Mrs. Paulson reconnected, has been a client since 1998.
AM: I clearly recall the nature walks you took our class on! I remember you pointing out Jack-in-the-pulpits and other plants and watching dragonflies skim across the lily pads at the pond. If we were on a walk together right now, what would you suggest that we look and listen for?
WP: I’m impressed that you remember those details of our walks, Anne. But not completely surprised, as that is exactly what outdoor experiences do for us, especially for children: They sharpen our capacity to pay attention. If we were walking outdoors together now, I’d simply hope that both of us would listen and look for anything that piqued our curiosity. It might be the shape of a tree, the remarkable hue of a wildflower, the movement of a leafhopper, the illumination of a landscape, a woodpecker tapping at a tree trunk. There’s so much to take in!
AM: Did someone take you on such walks when you were a child?
WP: Yes, my dad. I loved those walks and all that he was urging me to see. It’s why I encourage all adults, no matter how slim their “nature IQ” might be, to take children out for walks – long ones, short ones, in city, town, or country – with eyes and ears wide open for whatever there is to notice. It’s a priceless gift to give a child and an equally priceless experience to share.
AM: How did you become involved in conservation? Was it through your love of birding?
WP: It had somewhat of a beginning with a seventh grade teacher who caught my attention when she told us about the Great Dismal Swamp in North Carolina. Years later, as a young adult, I read about The Nature Conservancy helping to save the Dismal Swamp. It struck me as a noble act and the kind of activity I wanted to be involved in. But my evolution as a conservationist took place in the context of outdoor experiences with my dad and others who were generous in their lessons about nature and conservation opportunities.
AM: Birding has been a big part of your life. How were you first introduced to that? Do you have a favorite bird and, if so, why? I know that your foundation is named after the Bobolink.
WP: Again, I’d credit my dad first. He always had binoculars when he went outdoors, and he bought me some when I was in college. But this passion really took off when we were living in Great Falls and I was teaching at Potomac. I met several people who were avid birders, including one who lived on the same dirt road and whose kids went to Potomac. He and several others became wonderful, generous mentors. I was eager for anything they could teach me. I took a bunch of classes through what was then the Audubon Naturalist Society and just kept learning.
My favorite bird is, and probably always will be, the Eastern Bluebird. I love the color, the lilting song, the behavior. Bluebirds nested at our place in Great Falls and we have several pairs now nesting at our home in Illinois. When I was teaching at Potomac, the species was in steep decline, but an intensive nest box program has led to a dramatic reversal.
The Bobolink is my favorite grassland bird. It’s classy – with distinctive plumage and a bubbly, unmistakable song, often given during flight. I chose it as the name of our foundation because the Bobolink migrates between North and South America, where we focus our work, and because it’s emblematic of grasslands – also a major focus for the foundation.
AM: You’ve traveled around the globe. Do you have a favorite place to go birding?
WP: It’s hard to name one place. I have many favorites – on coasts and in the tropics, salt marshes, and grasslands. But I have to say that my enduring favorite is simply my home place. There’s nothing like having a Golden-winged or Cerulean Warbler show up outside the back door, or seeing a Winter Wren pop out of a wood pile, or hearing Sandhill Cranes bugle so loudly that I rush outdoors to watch them stream overhead in the hundreds. I love those home-based surprises. That said, I have a special fondness for southeast Georgia, where we have an eco-lodge and ongoing conservation projects. It’s an extraordinary place to see shorebirds, wading birds like Wood Storks and Roseate Spoonbills, and marsh and forest birds. It’s a birder’s paradise.
Other standouts for me include wild places in just about any Latin American country; the coast of the Yellow Sea in China, which offers some of the greatest shorebird extravaganzas I’ve ever witnessed; and Snettisham Nature Reserve on the Norfolk coast of Great Britain.
AM: While birding is more popular today than ever, many don’t know that bird populations are declining due to habitat loss, climate change, light pollution, and predation by invasive species and even domestic cats! Apart from our enjoyment of them, birds play critical roles in human and ecosystem health and agriculture. They eat mosquitoes and other insects that carry disease, and they help to pollinate crops. What can we do to get the word out on why birds matter?
WP: The first thing to do is become better acquainted with birds, starting with the ones regularly seen where you live. As you get to know them, curiosity about other bird species naturally develops and it can become something of a treasure hunt. You begin to notice ones that are not “regulars”; some may actually be rare. Birds are the proverbial canaries in the coal mine. They tell us about ecological health, the well-being of our planet. Where there’s lots of bird diversity, there’s probably a good mix of healthy habitats, all of which serve as underpinning for human well-being. That’s an important concept to share with others – and that’s easily done when friends note your interest in birds and begin to join you on your quests!
One note on your phrase “even domestic cats”: In the United States, outdoor cats claim more than 2.4 billion bird lives every year. That’s a significant percentage of the annual wild bird production – and a great loss to our woodlands, prairies, wetlands, and us.
AM: You regularly lead walks through the Burnham Wildlife Corridor in Chicago, a project near and dear to the Field Museum. Could you speak about the importance of urban conservation areas and wildlife preserves?
WP: Cities are concentrated centers of population, commerce, institutions of all kinds. Increasingly, architects and city planners are realizing that to sustain their inhabitants, cities need to be livable; to a great extent, this means that they need to include more nature – in parks, preserves, arboretums, backyards, rooftops. Urban conservation is a growing trend and long overdue.
Thank goodness, for example, in the DC area you have places like Rock Creek Park, Theodore Roosevelt Island, the C&O Canal, and wonderful tree-lined streets in much of the city. Can you imagine Washington without those places?
AM: What do you consider the major conservation challenges today, locally and/or globally?
WP: Ignorance and indifference. The more common answers to your question might be global warming, invasive species, loss of habitat. But all those are symptoms and outcomes of the fundamental problem of ignorance and indifference.
AM: Who were your role models in conservation?
WP: Initially, they were the mentors who taught me so much early in my learning curve, including Peter Monroe, the Lower School science teacher at Potomac. As my experience in conservation developed, I came to deeply admire individuals like Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, and Teddy Roosevelt, who were conservation pioneers. And I equally admire local practitioners who lead education, protection, and restoration efforts in their communities.
I especially appreciate conservationists who can write well, as they communicate important ideas to anyone who reads their work. Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Carl Safina, Terry Tempest Williams, Donald Culross Peattie, Mary Austin, Robert Macfarlane, and Mary Oliver are some great examples.
AM: What advice would you give someone who is interested in getting more involved in conservation, whether as a career or an avocation?
WP: First, learn all you can about nature in your community, starting with your immediate surroundings. Get to know nearby natural areas. Find out what conservation organizations are active locally. Consider getting involved – as a volunteer, a supporter, or a board member.
And look for mentors. People who know far more than I have been so important in my evolution in conservation. It’s also great to connect with friends who share your curiosity, so that you can explore and learn together. I have found that the closest friendships are often forged and nourished by being together in natural settings.
Starting a conservation book group is another way to connect around these issues. I’ve been part of one for 25 years (it began as an idea in a dugout canoe in Venezuela!), and all of the participants agree that it has been the best ongoing learning curriculum we could imagine. I also recommend that people consider rewilding their yards with native plants to attract and nurture birds and other pollinators. And, as I’ve mentioned before, always look for opportunities to take children out into the natural world. Their curiosity will enrich your own.
Finally, for young people considering a career in conservation, the best way to begin is to seek out internships or volunteer opportunities with conservation groups, big or small, and see where that leads you. There are many opportunities to learn and make a difference.
AM: I know that faith is an important part of your life. Could you speak to the interconnection between faith and concern for the natural world?
WP: One of the tenets of just about any faith tradition is care for one another. For me, that includes the creatures that share this planet with us. To care for them means caring for the habitats, the natural systems that sustain all life on earth. We humans have been bequeathed a precious, wondrous creation, full of vitality and beauty. It’s our privilege and responsibility to be good stewards.
AM: When we first reconnected, I was astounded to hear you immediately reel off the names of the students in my second grade class, some of whom I didn’t remember! Do you have any favorite memories of teaching at Potomac?
WP: I taught at Potomac for only two years but, honestly, every single student in those two classes is etched in my memory. The school gave me such latitude in the classroom. You might recall that we did not have desks in traditional arrangement in our room, but rather tables clustered around focus areas. Students were free to move around. We had a wonderful reading nook, a carpenter’s bench, a game center, terraria with snakes, Cuisenaire rods for visualizing math problems. It was a sort of free-range setup that sparked curiosity and vitality every minute of every day. And we spent many afternoons exploring the woods on campus. I learned so much in those two years and cherish both the students and the educational insights I gained.
AM: Mrs. Paulson – Wendy – what a delight it’s been to reconnect with you through our shared love for the Field Museum and fond memories of The Potomac School. I know I’m not alone in saying that you were my favorite teacher at Potomac. Being in your class taught me to enjoy and value the natural world, and I am forever grateful for those lessons.