Maine Audubon Hires Program Director at Hog Island Audubon Center

Contact: Andrew Colvin, (207) 781-2330, ext. 241

BREMEN, Maine, Wednesday, May 7, 2008—A longtime environmental educator with her own radio show has taken a newly created position at Maine Audubon. Bridget Butler is program director of Hog Island Audubon Center’s residential sessions in midcoast Maine.

“Bridget’s enthusiasm as a teacher and experience as a naturalist make here a great fit for our programs,” said Seth Benz, Hog Island Audubon Center director. As program director, Butler will be overseeing day-to-day operations and leading several camp sessions, including Field Ornithology, Educators Workshop Week and Maine Island Discovery.

Butler has been a teacher and naturalist in New England for 16 years, most recently as conservation education coordinator for Audubon Vermont. She has also worked at nature centers and residential programs for New Hampshire Audubon, Massachusetts Audubon, and Stone Environmental Schools.

The birding enthusiast hosts her own radio show called “BEEKS—A Birding Geek’s Radio Delight!” on WMRW 95.1 in Vermont, with a weekly pod cast of the show available at www.vt.audubon.org.

Butler said she fell in love with the outdoors at a young age, exploring the woods near her home in Cazenovia, N.Y. She became interested in studying marine biology while attending a camp on Long Island as a teenager. After earning her degree on the subject at the University of New Hampshire, she saw environmental education as a natural fit.

“I love sharing discoveries with others, from preschoolers to seniors,” Butler said. “I’m really looking forward to doing that at a place as special as Hog Island.”

MAINE AUDUBON works to conserve Maine’s wildlife and wildlife habitat by engaging people of all ages in education, conservation and action. For more than 160 years, Maine Audubon has been connecting people with nature and leading science-based conservation in major projects across the state. An independent affiliate of Audubon’s national organization, Maine Audubon has seven local chapters, 11 nature centers and sanctuaries, and 11,000 members and supporters.

##