Saratoga News
News
Photograph by George Sakkestad
A sabertooth tiger skull is just one of the many interesting items Michael Harless features in his store, Nature's Odyssey.
Discovering fossils without ever having to dig
By Lisa Sibley
It's everything for science geeks and more. Owner Michael Harless says his store, Nature's Odyssey, offers something for all ages--fuel cell experiment kits, crystal growing kits, educational solar energy kits and shortwave radios, to name a few.
The hot items, Harless says, are the science kits and an extensive range of fossil reproductions and authentic fossils and minerals. The self-contained ecospheres are also popular. In addition, customers visit the store at 5205 Prospect Road, Suite 125, in San Jose for his complete range of Meade astronomical telescopes and accessories.
"This was the only major metropolitan city in the country that didn't have a Meade dealer," Harless says. "It surprised me, being in the Silicon Valley."
Harless, a microbiologist in the oil industry who was based on Houston for 15 years, looked at the demographics of both Austin, Texas, and San Jose when deciding where to open his store. He'd tinkered with amateur telescopes and excavating fossils for years, and had always wanted to open his own business. He moved to San Jose to open the shop last October. Harless says the highly educated, technical population seemed like the perfect fit for his business.
"I've had a strong interest from the homeschool community," he says.
On occasion, Harless has given presentations to students before the store opens in the morning. He also partners with the Youth Science Institute, a natural science museum program serving Santa Clara County. Harless refers customers to YSI, and they in turn refer participants to his store.
Saratoga resident Nancy Boling has three sons, ages 5, 8 and 10, who participate in activities such as YSI rather than playing soccer. She loves how Nature's Odyssey is uniquely geared toward educational fun, nature and science. "It's like a little museum for my three little scientists. They are totally entertained, which is fabulous for me," she says. "They would spend days in there if they could."
Harless chose his merchandise based on products he thought were cool, which range from microbiology and chemistry to physics, geology, paleontology and robotics.
Harless' store is the only one in the United States that imports fossils from skilled craftsmen at GeoLinea, a company based in Italy. The company works all over the world studying, searching and extracting fossils and minerals. The fossils range from 50 million to 520 million years old. The prices range from $8 to a couple of thousand dollars.
"Most people are under the impression that fossils are incredibly rare," Harless says. "Some of them are, and some are more for the general population than for collectors."
Harless studied microbiology at the University of Texas. He worked for seven years at the university's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center before going to work for Baker Hughes in oil field microbiology. There, he directed the department and traveled the world. When he left Baker Hughes, it offered him a safety net--in case the business didn't do well, he could always come back. So far Harless has been breaking even, but plans to continue reaching out to Saratoga, West San Jose and the surrounding communities.
He partnered with Baker Elementary School last year through a Scrip program. Parents bought Scrip and used it like cash at Nature's Odyssey, and the school received a 5 percent donation. Harless hopes to expand to more schools this fall.
When children come into his store and see a dinosaur tooth found in the Sahara Desert that's 100 million years old or hold a 60-million-year-old shark's tooth, Harless says, "there's a lot of oohing and ahhing."
"A kid just gets a kick out of holding a real piece of a dinosaur," he says.
For more information, visit www.naturesodyssey.com.
