In recognition of the fiftieth
anniversary of Earth Day, Greenwich Library Oral History Project student
blogger Noor Rekhi offers highlights of an interview with Ted Gilman
by project volunteer Laurie Heiss.
Ted Gilman retired at the end of January
after forty-three years with the Greenwich Audubon Center, where he served as
Senior Naturalist and Education Specialist. His love for flora and fauna was
kindled as a young child in Montclair, New Jersey, where he grew up playing outdoors, and developed a love for ornithology. He continued this passion at Earlham College,
where he studied natural history, and at Cornell University, where he
participated in a graduate program in the Department of Natural Resources.
Ted Gilman leading a nature walk
at Greenwich Audubon Center
|
Mr. Gilman first honed his skills as an
educator in the 1970s when he worked for a Toledo-based program that sought to
give fifth graders in Ohio a chance to experience the great outdoors. His
experience with Audubon began in 1974 when he became a bird life instructor at an Audubon camp in Maine. Gilman continued to spend two more summers at the camp
before coming to Greenwich in 1977 to work for Greenwich Audubon as an
education specialist and naturalist. During that summer, he worked in the
Audubon Ecology Workshop for Educators; he was named director of the program
the following year. The workshop taught teachers from across America and
overseas how to embrace and connect with natural surroundings so that they
could bring those same lessons to their students. Mr. Gilman greatly enjoyed
many aspects of teaching in that program, noting that it “was the opportunity
to help adults have child-like experiences.” Through this workshop he gave an
invaluable experience to the teachers involved and their future students;
everyone should have the opportunity to embrace nature and hone the ability to
connect with it.
Ted Gilman teaching children about
birds at the Greenwich Audubon Center
|
Through his work, Gilman has taught
many children and adults to cherish the environment and realize the need for
conservation not only in protected wildlife sanctuaries, but also in our own
backyards. Although in this modern world many of us find ourselves more
connected to our screens than the environment, Mr. Gilman works to preserve our
Earth for all its future children. The next time you gaze upon the foliage and
fauna that grace Greenwich or experience an “oh, wow,” moment while watching
nature, note Ted Gilman’s contributions in sustaining our communal home. None
of us is alone; we are connected to every person, animal, plant, and mineral in
the universe. By connecting children and adults with feathered and finned
friends alike, Mr. Gilman allows us to return to a child’s awareness of the interdependence
of everyone and every living thing.
Mary Jacobson, OHP blog editor
As with all our interview transcripts, the Ted Gilman transcript may be read at Greenwich Library and is available for purchase at the Oral History Project office. The Oral History Project is sponsored by the Friends of the Greenwich Library. Visit the OHP website at glohistory.org.
As with all our interview transcripts, the Ted Gilman transcript may be read at Greenwich Library and is available for purchase at the Oral History Project office. The Oral History Project is sponsored by the Friends of the Greenwich Library. Visit the OHP website at glohistory.org.
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