Our Volunteers

Highlighted below is just a sampling of the great volunteer corps who currently provide invaluable assistance by giving of their time, energy, knowledge and skills in a variety of ways. Such efforts greatly enhance many of the environmental programs and events that are offered at the UW. Find out more about how to volunteer »

George Thorton
Rare Care Volunteer since April 2001
Oroville High School Teacher

George has long had an interest in native plants and has worked professionally with the USFS in botany for several years. He says that the Rare Care program allows him to focus on the professional level, contribute to knowledge about a special place in Washington, and gain a personal satisfaction for the experience. George currently helps Rare Care by hiking around Mt. Chopaka searching for and identifying examples of a fairly unique plant community. The site requires a 1.5 to 2 hour hike over fairly challenging terrain combining no trail and steepness and relative high altitude for Washington State.

What he likes most about volunteering for Rare Care
“What I appreciate is the opportunity to do what I love and also give back to our state and it's heritage. During my years on Mt. Chopaka I've grown to know as much as anyone of the beauty and special nature of the mountain. I've tutored a student through getting special honors for his college senior project, found new plants to the site and enjoyed many hours alone in the solitude and grandeur of the high alpine. What's better?"

Rod Gilbert, Olympia, WA
Rare Care volunteer since April 2004

What Rod likes most about volunteering for Rare Care
"The best thing about RareCare is that it gets you out to a natural area you might not have otherwise visited and once there, it's like a wonderful treasure hunt to find your population. I made several trips to the same location this year as I had three populations, that flowered at different times, to monitor. I got to know the area well, and quickly fell in love with it's diverse and unique flora. It's now one of my favorite places!"

General information
Rod is a Field Technician at Fort Lewis. His favorite pastime is hiking and camping in the Olympics and identifying plants, butterflies and other wildlife. He has hiked most of the trails at least once, and hopes to continue as long as his legs can still carry him!

Debbie and Tom Cox
COASST Volunteers, North Coast Region

Deb and Tom have been surveying Kalaloch North and Ruby Beach each month since November of 2001. Deb, who recently retired from her job with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), said she was first attracted to the COASST program because the “bird aspect allowed me to get back into biology without having to go back to work!”  Although she volunteers with other conservation organizations, she has appreciated the opportunity that COASST provides to contribute to a long-term scientific effort.  She likes the “structured aspect” of COASST—collecting the data, and then seeing it analyzed, and eventually contributing to “the bigger picture” of bird conservation.  Tom—also recently retired after a 34-year career with the FAA—had to admit that it was Deb’s initial interest in COASST that got him going with beach surveys. But now, he says it was “well worth it!”  Both he and Deb appreciate the chance to experience the beauty of the outer coast.  Tom believes their COASST surveys “insure that we have a day on the beach at least once a month.”  They find it relaxing and a good way to enjoy the natural beauty of their community.

Vic Nelson
COASST Volunteer, Puget Sound Region

Vic Nelson, who surveys the Point No Point area, began COASST beached bird surveys way back in spring 2001 and was our only observer in the Sound for nearly a year. During the Point Wells oil spill in January 2004, Vic boosted his usual bimonthly survey effort to daily because he felt it was his duty to “firmly ground the COASST baseline in my home county, where most of the oil from the nearby Point Wells spill washed up.” As a former fisheries biologist (specializing in thermal and radiation ecology) at the University of Washington, Vic is accustomed to the often rugged and persistent fieldwork that long-term scientific monitoring requires. For the past 12 years, Vic has conducted systematic counts of Point No Point’s live seabirds three to four times a month. Vic’s eventual monitoring goal is “to find a way to merge the live and dead bird datasets.” He hopes that by tracking the numbers of live birds funneling between the Kitsap Peninsula and Whidbey Island, we’ll be better able to explain the more subtle seasonal and annual patterns revealed by the dead birds that wash up farther south in central and lower Puget Sound.