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Photograph by George Sakkestad
This California king snake is just one of the many species that Patricia Kucker enjoys showing to young visitors to the Sanborn Park Science and Nature Center.
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Manager's experience helping science, nature center evolve She aims for more involvement
By Steve Enders
High in the Saratoga foothills, what was probably once a bedroom in a mountain cottage now serves as an office for Patricia Kucker, manager of Sanborn Park's Science and Nature Center.
Outside her office door is the nature center's museum--a collection that serves as proof of the rich array of species that live, or once lived, in the mountains there.
As Kucker ponders why rodents might have broken into a cage and snacked on some beetles during the night, she walks to the animal ward of the museum and handles a tarantula. Later, she picks up a king snake, and then a chinchilla, native of South America.
It's obvious Kucker has a background in biology, the way she fearlessly handles the animals and bugs.
Today, the tarantula doesn't move much while in her steady hands, although she tells a story of how once, during a presentation to a group of schoolchildren, the tarantula leaped out of her hands and tried to make a break to freedom.
Kucker cornered and retrieved the tarantula, much to the youngsters' satisfaction, and went on with her talk about the forest.
It's with groups like this that Kucker is at her best, in situations where children step off a school bus for the first time to witness the beauty of nature. From all over the valley, they come to Sanborn's redwoods and learn about the native Americans who inhabited the place long before Europeans did, as well as the animals that have been there longer than anybody.
Kucker began managing Sanborn's nature center in August, as part of the Youth Science Institute's countywide effort to get more children involved in hands-on science and nature programs.
YSI runs other nature centers at Alum Rock Park in San Jose and Vasona Park in Los Gatos. Each year, the program teaches thousands of children that even on the outskirts of a large city, nature is still allowed to live free.
Kucker, a Los Gatos resident, can partly relate to those first-time, nature-observing students. When she arrived in California and was hired by YSI, she says she had never seen a redwood tree before.
"YSI personnel became savvy that I was pretty good with amphibians," she says, adding that as a part-time employee she was able to start handling many of the animals at the center.
Soon thereafter, Kucker gave up teaching for a while and focused on building the collection in the museum. "I love the building. It's a challenge to take a place like this and keep it running," she says of the old house.
Now, as manager of the center Kucker has found a way to get back to doing what she truly loves--teaching about science.
She regularly leads night hikes through the park, and teaches various classes throughout the year.
In her spare time, Kucker somehow finds a way to take classes at local colleges so she can keep up-to-date with the latest theories and subject matter.
At Sanborn, the curriculum focuses on the ecosystem of the forest and insects, as well as geology, because the San Andreas Fault literally runs underneath the park.
YSI Executive Director Anne Dunham says that Kucker's enthusiasm and vast knowledge is typical of instructors in her programs. "We've got a lot of younger instructors," Dunham says. "Patricia is good at training those students who are just coming out of college. Then they can learn from us and get better jobs."
Dunham calls YSI's staff "fabulous," and says Kucker is a great addition to the Sanborn center, YSI's largest of its three nature centers.
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Saratoga, California Since 1975
