By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Pam Martin had an inkling she wanted to do something with nature as a career. Coming out of high school in Ohio, however, opportunities in the field were lacking. A fateful move to Kansas in 1991 changed all of that. Martin expanded programming at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge in Stafford County, and helped build from scratch the current array of programs at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center. She retires from her role as educator specialist for Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks on Sept. 30.
"I just appreciate all the opportunities I've been given by so many special people," she said. "I wouldn't have gotten to do what I've done without their faith in me, and I really appreciate that more than anything. I hope I've made a difference so that people will appreciate and protect not only the wonderful resources in their backyard, Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, but nature in general."
Martin said her role now is interpretation. Coming out of high school, she knew of park rangers and museum curators, but interpretation jobs were never promoted. Thinking of a career as a plants and animal illustrator or wildlife biologist during college, she ended up working at a biophysiology lab at Ohio State University.
In 1991, Martin's husband, Vic, accepted a job at the Kansas State University research facility near St. John. "I was a fish out of water," Pam said. "We got off the plane in Wichita and it was over 100 degrees and 30 mile an hour winds. I said what have I done, but everyone was welcoming and we found Quivira."
It proved to be a life-changing move for the Martins, who were on the first Friends of Quivira board. In 1992, University of Kansas Professor Chip Taylor began the volunteer monarch butterfly tagging program and Martin began tagging. She brought the activity to Quivira as the Monarch Mania Festival.
In those early days, Martin also took on a part-time job writing a column at the St. John newspaper. That turned into an editing job. She spent more than five years covering Barton County and taking photos for the Great Bend Tribune.
But she knew biology was her calling. As part of Friends of Quivira, she attended the National Conservation Training Center in Virginia for training. She returned to Kansas and began applying for jobs. She made it to the interview stage for the Fort Hays educator position, but a hiring freeze helped steer her to Kansas Wildlife and Parks, who offered her a job at the newly-minted KWEC in April 2009.
"I knew I'd have to set up programs for the Center," she said. "We started from scratch. We had nothing but a building. I contacted people that I knew in the field and went and talked to them. They were just so helpful."
Martin used contacts from the Milford Nature Center in Junction City, the Sternberg Museum in Hays, Great Plains Nature Center, and she trained with the Kansas Association of Environmental Conservation and Education. Her first program at KWEC in May 2009 was about frogs and toads and the sounds they make.
"That is still one of our go-to programs that we do," Martin said. "It's been refined through the years but for more than 14 years we've been doing that program."
Then the programming took off. Martin began contacting area libraries and schools, ultimately installing programming for all K-6 students in USD 428 Great Bend. She also did a program for Hoisington first graders 11 months out of the year, and ultimately got into all area schools.
Martin's love of butterflies and insects never waned. She started the Butterfly Festival at KWEC and, for a couple of years, tried to handle the monarch events at both Quivira and KWEC. She continues to educate on the butterflies and dragonflies that migrate thousands of miles over several generations.
"These are just tiny insects," she said. "I just have always found them fascinating. When I was growing up, both grandfathers encouraged that. I raised butterflies and the big silk moths. They're beautiful and fascinating at the same time."
Martin said her biggest accomplishment has been taking a program from scratch and building it into something that has reached thousands of students and residents in Central Kansas. Watching kids have that "ah-ha" moment has been one of the great rewards.
"When we have water and we take them out there and they're sampling for aquatic insects and other organisms in the water, quite a few of them don't want to do it," she said. "But once they get in there and start catching things, they're hooked."
Martin also recalled being part of four exhibits at Barton Community College's Shafer Art Gallery. The first two were contests where artists submitted pieces about monarch butterflies and cranes. As part of the monarch exhibit, Martin had the opportunity to visit the home of illustrator Dr. John Cody and select nearly three dozen of his paintings to exhibit. A third exhibit featured amphibian photographs from a National Geographic photographer and earned the gallery an award.
"That was extra special doing that and bringing in a different audience to appreciate what we have," Martin said.
Martin plans to stay busy in retirement. She and Vic spent three years looking for the perfect country home that just happens to be nearly equidistant to Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira. She plans to watch the wildlife there and get back to horse riding. She wants to focus on her photography and build a ceramics studio in her home. She will also be watching for volunteer opportunities with hopes of getting involved with Monarch Watch at the University of Kansas.
Naturally, Martin will miss the work and the people. She'll also miss the Kansas Wetlands Education Center itself - a place she helped build from scratch.
"What am I going to miss?" she asked. "I'm going to miss all that. I'm going to miss the place. When I'm out in the garden, there are butterflies, hummingbirds, and all kinds of animals. It's magical. I'm going to miss that a lot."