explore | Mass Audubon – Your Great Outdoors

In Your Words is a regular feature of Mass Audubon’s Explore member newsletter. Each issue, a Mass Audubon member, volunteer, staff member, or supporter shares his or her story—why Mass Audubon and protecting the nature of Massachusetts matters to them. If you have a story to share about your connection to Mass Audubon, email [email protected] to be considered for In Your Words in a future issue!

Jeanne Li - Volunteer at Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary — Jeanne Li – Volunteer at Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary

I have always enjoyed the outdoors and science. When I went to college at Vassar in the 1960s, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and other writings started me thinking about a career in ecology. I wrote to government agencies asking about job opportunities; the replies were not encouraging. So I switched my focus from zoology to chemistry and spent my working life in laboratories—indoor places. In my free time, I went hiking, skiing, sailing, and birding, and had many other outdoor adventures around central Pennsylvania.

When I moved to Massachusetts in 1984 and began looking for places to hike, I discovered Mass Audubon wildlife sanctuaries. In 2000, a move to the North Shore put Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary in Topsfield just 10 minutes away. I wanted to give back and help the environment but my job did not permit donating much time. So I helped with special events and did trail monitoring while I hiked, reporting any problems I found to the property manager.

Boardwalk choked by Glossy Buckthorn – May 2012

As retirement approached, I began looking for new ways to fill my time. I spoke to the staff at Ipswich River about volunteering to do some type of outdoor work related to ecological management and they asked if I would help restore a field by removing an invasive plant, Glossy Buckthorn. That fall, I successfully cleared a small patch with the guidance of Richard Wolniewicz, the property manager, and Lou Wagner, the now-retired regional scientist.

Unfortunately, the buckthorn grew back the following spring. To permanently eradicate it, we would need to take a targeted approach, individually cutting and applying herbicide to each plant by hand. Today, the fields contain more grasses and wildflowers and fewer invasive plants, which is very satisfying to see. With the help of other volunteers, student interns, and staff, we have extended the work to remove buckthorn along the wetland trail edges, as well.

Clearer views and healthier native plants after Glossy Buckthorn removal - Winter 2019 — Clearer views and healthier native plants after Glossy Buckthorn removal – Winter 2019

This volunteer work has provided opportunities to meet and work with people from many different backgrounds, to learn botany and ecology, to present at Mass Audubon’s annual Staff Natural History Conference, to drive a tractor, and to keep physically fit. As a bonus, I observe birds, mammals, amphibians, and insects as I work. I am honored to be a part of Mass Audubon’s effort to conserve our natural world.

Jeanne Li is a volunteer at Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary in Topsfield.

Flavio Sutti holding binoculars at Arches National Park in Utah — Flavio Sutti at Arches National Park in Utah

Growing up in the Italian Alps, I spent most of my time on my grandparents’ farm. The animals and the surrounding forests and fields provided a magical and safe place to explore nature, learn how to care for animals and crops, and understand the intricate connection between humans and the landscape they inhabit.

As an adult, most of my life experiences have had animals as a key component. In Italy, I had many jobs: working in a natural history museum, as a wildlife biologist conducting environmental impact statements, as a researcher with universities, and as a wildlife rehabilitator, where I came to know the stories of individual animals and greater realize the importance of educating people.

My first introduction to the U.S. began in 2003 when I spent several semesters interning at the Glen Helen Nature Preserve and Raptor Rehabilitation Center, part of Antioch College in Ohio. I met and married my wife in the pine forest in Glen Helen. Our ring bearer was an imprinted Barred Owl (a bird that had become habituated to humans such that it couldn’t survive in the wild) I’d trained at the raptor center, who was carried down the aisle on my mentor’s arm.

Flavio (right) on his wedding day with his mentor, Bet Ross, and his ring bearer owl, Grinnell

In 2006, settled in a new state, my first official job was as a teacher naturalist at Drumlin Farm in Lincoln. When I think back, what drew me to Drumlin Farm must have been the familiar combination of farm and wildlife, both of which so strongly impacted me as a child. I was, and continue to be, impressed with the ways in which Mass Audubon’s mission is so in line with my values. Those same values brought me back to Drumlin Farm in 2013 to run the Wildlife Care Center after earning my master’s and doctoral degrees in Wildlife Biology at the University of Vermont.

My work at Drumlin Farm feels more important every day as I see my own daughter grow up and connect with the animals and nature. Now that we’re embarking on a renovation of the Wildlife Care Center, I’m looking forward to using my experiences to make Drumlin an even better place for animals and education. I believe that we can profoundly help wildlife by inspiring people to take better care of the natural world.

Flavio holding a millipede and showing it to children as part of a school program in Lowell. — Flavio leading a school program in Lowell

Flavio Sutti is the Wildlife Program Coordinator at Mass Audubon’s Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary.

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In Your Words: Jeanne Li

In Your Words: Flavio Sutti