Natural History Institute

NATURAL HISTORY INSTITUTE IS ORGANIZED TO PROVIDE LEADERSHIP AND RESOURCES FOR A REVITALIZED PRACTICE OF NATURAL HISTORY THAT INTEGRATES ART, SCIENCE, AND HUMANITIES TO PROMOTE THE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF HUMANS AND THE REST OF THE NATURAL WORLD.

2021 PROVED TO BE AN EXTREMELY PRODUCTIVE AND DEFINING YEAR FOR THE NATURAL HISTORY INSTITUTE (NHI) DESPITE THE HARSH REALITIES OF A GLOBAL PANDEMIC. MOST IMPORTANT IN THE DEFINING NATURE OF THE YEAR WAS STAFF AND LEADERSHIP CHANGES AS THE FOUNDING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TOM FLEISCHNER, RESIGNED AND A NATIONAL SEARCH WAS MOUNTED BY THE BOARD, WHICH YIELDED ROBERT ELLIS AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR. ROBERT TRANSITIONED FROM HIS POSITION OF PROGRAM DIRECTOR AT NHI AND ASSUMED LEADERSHIP ON 01 JUNE 2021. PRIOR TO THE LEADERSHIP CHANGE, A NATIONAL SEARCH FOR A DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR LANDED ALEX SUNSERI AS NHI'S FIRST DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR. FOLLOWING THAT HIRE, WE CONDUCTED A SUCCESSFUL NATIONAL SEARCH FOR A NEW PROGRAM DIRECTOR, WHICH PRODUCED JESSIE RACK. JESSIE JOINED THE TEAM IN AUGUST. IN OCTOBER, ALEX SUNSERI RESIGNED AS A DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR BECAUSE HE COULD NOT MEET THE TERMS OF HIS CONTRACT, WHICH REQUIRED HIM TO BE A RESIDENT OF PRESCOTT, AZ, BY THE END OF SEPTEMBER. DEB FORD WAS HIRED AS THE INTERIM DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR IN OCTOBER. ALSO IN OCTOBER, JENNIE TUTONE WAS HIRED AS A PART-TIME COLLECTIONS MANAGER. WHILE CONSIDERABLE ENERGY WAS EXPENDED IN THE ON-BOARDING AND TRAINING PROCESSES, THE NEW STAFF BROUGHT FRESH IDEAS AND A SURGE OF ENERGY.THE LARGEST FINANCIAL COMMITMENT TO PROVIDING FREE PUBLIC PROGRAMS AIMED AT FULFILLING OUR MISSION WAS A BI-MONTHLY VIDEO PROGRAM CALLED, NOTES FROM THE FIELD. WE PRODUCED 24 EPISODES THAT YIELDED 5,673 VIEWS. TWO OTHER ONLINE PROGRAMS THAT WERE STARTED IN 2020 WERE COMPLETED IN 2021 - REAL GROUND INITIATIVE AND GREENE VIEW ADDED AN UNKNOWN NUMBER TO THE TOTAL OF NHI ONLINE VIEWS.ALL THE VIDEOS AND WEBINARS ARE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC, FREE OF CHARGE, ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL, WHICH HAS WITNESSED PHENOMENAL GROWTH AND NEARS THE MONETIZATION METRICS. WE ADDED 397 SUBSCRIBERS IN 2021, BRINGING OUR TOTAL SUBSCRIBERS TO 835 PEOPLE WHO HAVE LOGGED OVER 3,000 HOURS OF VIEWING TIME AND 21,903 VIEWS FOR THE YEAR.THE NHI WEBSITE ALSO FEATURES A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF CONTENT WHICH ATTRACTS A LARGE FOLLOWING. THERE WERE 16,000 VIEWERS CONDUCTING SOME 34,000 SESSIONS, REPRESENTING A 111% INCREASE OVER THE PREEVIOUS YEAR. IN ADDITION, OUR FACEBOOK PAGE HAS 1,918 FOLLOWERS, AND OUR INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS TOTAL 932.

RESEARCH:THE YEAR PRODUCED OUR FIRST RESEARCH FINDINGS FUNDED BY OUR SMALL RESEARCH GRANTS PROGRAM AS A PART OF OUR MOGOLLON HIGHLANDS INITIATIVE (MHI). THE OBJECTIVES OF THE MHI ARE:- DEVELOP A SET OF DISTINCT SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF ORGANISMS IN THIS REGION, THAT WILL LEAD TO SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS, CO-AUTHORED WITH PARTICIPANTS- COORDINATE FIELD SURVEYS WITH THE RESEARCH COLLECTIONS PROGRAM OF NHI- CONTRIBUTE TO A BROAD UNDERSTANDING OF CLIMATE CHANGE BY MONITORING CHANGE ALONG THIS CONTINENTAL-SCALE ECOLOGICAL TRANSITION ZONE- FEATURE EDUCATIONAL DISCOVERY FIELD EXPEDITIONS, LED BY NHI-AFFILIATED NATURALISTS, IN WHICH CITIZENS WILL EXPLORE THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THIS FASCINATING REGION WHILE CONTRIBUTING TO RESEARCH EFFORTS TO DOCUMENT ITS BIODIVERSITY- FOSTER PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF, APPRECIATION FOR, AND STEWARDSHIP OF THIS REGIONDR. ANDY HOLYCROSS, NHI RESEARCH AFFILIATE, SUBMITTED A RESEARCH REPORT ON THE FINDINGS OF MOGOLLON HIGHLANDS SNAKE BIOGEOGRAPHY PROJECT, WHICH SUPPORTED OUR ASSERTION THAT THE MOGOLLON HIGHLANDS IS ONE OF THE MOST BIOLOGICALLY DIVERSE ECOREGIONS IN THE US. HIS REPORT FOUND THERE ARE 39 SPECIES OF SNAKES IN THE MOGOLLON HIGHLANDS. THAT FINDING IS HIGHER THAN THE SNAKE BIODIVERSITY IN THE SKY ISLANDS ECOREGION, WHICH HOSTS THE MOST DIVERSE SNAKE FAUNA IN THE US. DR. HOLYCROSS AND ASSOCIATES ARE PREPARING A MANUSCRIPT TO BE PUBLISHED IN A PEER-REVIEWED ACADEMIC JOURNAL.THE POSITIVE RESULTS OF THE MOGOLLON HIGHLANDS SNAKE BIOGEOGRAPHY PROJECT MOVED THE INSTITUTE TO LAUNCH THE NEXT SMALL RESEARCH GRANT PROJECT. DR. PHIL MCNALLY AGREED TO A TWO-YEAR RESEARCH PROJECT THAT WILL INVENTORY THE BUTTERFLY FAUNA OF THE MOGOLLON HIGHLANDS. WHILE THE CONTRACT WAS SIGNED IN 2022, THE AGREEMENT WAS REACHED IN THE FALL OF 2021. THE PROJECT NAME IS, DEFINING THE BIODIVERSITY OF BUTTERFLIES (LEPIDOPTERA: RHOPALOCERA) IN THE MOGOLLON HIGHLANDS.CONSISTENT WITH THE OBJECTIVES OF THE MHI, WE MOVED INTO THE ARENA OF COMMUNITY SCIENCE BY LAUNCHING MOGOLLON HIGHLANDS TREE AND SHRUB MORTALITY REPORT 2021. WE HAVE PLACED OUR COMMUNITY SCIENCE PROJECT ON OUR WEBSITE, INVITING OBSERVATIONS OF TREE AND SHRUB MORTALITY IN THE MOGOLLON HIGHLANDS. SCIENCE DIRECTOR, DR. LISA FLOYD-HANNA IS COLLABORATING WITH DR. DAVID HUFFMAN FROM NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY TO DO FIELD RESEARCH ON JUNIPER MORTALITY IN 2022.WE ALSO MADE STRIDES TOWARD COMPLETING THE ONLINE CATALOGING OF OUR 9,000+ SPECIMEN HERBARIUM. OUR HERBARIUM HAS BEGUN TO BE UTILIZED BY PROFESSIONAL BOTANISTS IN THE REGION - INCLUDING BOTH LOANS OF SPECIMENS, AND VISITS FROM PLANT RESEARCHERS.

LECTURES, HIKES AND WORKSHOPS:THE PANDEMIC FORCED US TO CANCEL TWO OF OUR TOUCHSTONE TOURS - ECUADOR AND THE SAN JUAN RIVER TRIPS. PER THE ADVICE OF OUR MEDICAL DIRECTOR AS THE PANDEMIC WANED IN THE FALL, WE CONDUCTED 4 LOCAL DAY TRIP EXCURSIONS HOSTING 30 PAYING PARTICIPANTS. THE LOW NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS WAS A RESULT OF OUR COVID POLICY WHICH RESTRICTED GROUP SIZE.A GOOD PORTION OF THE YEAR FOUND THE INSTITUTE CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC, BUT WE CONTINUED TO AMPLIFY OUR 2020 "COVID PIVOT" TO ONLINE PROGRAMS WHICH INCLUDED 10 FREE, ONLINE WEBINARS WITH 583 ATTENDEES AND 4,359 SUBSEQUENT VIDEO VIEWS. IN ADDITION TO THE FREE ONLINE PROGRAMS, WE RAN TWO ONLINE FEE-BASED WORKSHOPS WITH A TOTAL OF 42 PARTICIPANTS. IN THE LATE FALL AND EARLY WINTER, WE HOSTED THREE IN-PERSON TALKS IN OUR SPEAKER SERIES WITH A TOTAL OF 71 PEOPLE IN ATTENDANCE UNDER TIGHT COVID PROTOCOLS.