Wildlife biologists grow up in suburban Newton

By Richard B. Primack

“Knowledge is to be acquired only by a corresponding experience.” 

- Henry David Thoreau in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.

 
Even in these days of the COVID-19 pandemic, people of all ages are out in Newton’s wild places observing birds, photographing natural beauty, removing invasive plants, and exploring the landscape of this populous suburb in metropolitan Boston. Who knows which ones will transform their passion into careers?
 
Sam Jaffe thinks Newton had the right mixture of lawns, wild places, and overgrown spots to engage his childhood passion for insects.  Today Jaffe directs The Caterpillar Lab in New Hampshire, which has five full-time employees and focuses on education, science and art involving caterpillars.

Sam Jaffe shows caterpillars at a public event.

Sabrina Hepburn remembers Nahanton Park along the Charles River as the place where she went birding with her family and saw American woodcocks.  Today, Hepburn is an environmental manager in Colorado specializing in how big energy projects impact wildlife.

Sabrina Hepburn views king penguins on a trip to the subantarctic.

 
Brendan Whittaker grew up on the edge of Webster Woods in Newton, exploring, camping out, and fishing in Hammond Pond. Whittaker went on to study forestry and became Secretary for Natural Resources for Vermont, responsible for forests, water, fish, and wildlife.

Brendan Whittaker cores a Vermont tree to determine its age.

Oliver and Nick Komar biked around Newton every day before and after school looking for birds.  Today, Nick is a disease ecologist with the Centers for Disease Control in Colorado, specializing in human diseases spread by birds. Oliver teaches and does research on wildlife conservation at Zamorano University in Honduras.

Oliver Komar holds a Spot-Crowned Woodcreeper in Honduras.

Nick Komar checks a mosquito trap in Arizona.

This article is a shortened version of an article that appeared in the Newton Tab.