Member profile: Michelle Sikorski
October 2018 – Michelle Sikorsky, a molecular biologist who lives in Danbury, took the Master Naturalist class at the Center at Fairfield last year to gain a different perspective on the natural world: “Seeing how that web comes together was intriguing to me.”
Soon after, she visited Deer Pond Farm and realized that Connecticut Audubon’s recently acquired property would be the right place to apply her new knowledge.
As a volunteer, she was part of a group that walked the property and mapped trails. She also wrote descriptions of each, “an explanation of what you would see on the walk there.”
“The property has different ecosystems…You can go walking along to Dealy [Trail] and you’re in a marshy environment…Then you can continue up to Bobcat Trail, and you can see the bilberries and the different trees. You see a lot in very short amount of time.
“Every walk that I’ve been on, there have been people who have had so many different interests. You’re walking with a group and someone is interested in ferns and they’ll call you over and show you a fern. Someone else is interested in a butterfly or a dragonfly. You have all of these things coming into your senses all at once and it makes for an enriching experience.
“I go there and I don’t know what I’ll come away with that day, but I always feel that I’ll come away having learned something.
“It’s part of lifelong learning, that idea that you don’t want to become stagnant. You want to continue to learn and to grow. For me, Audubon has been a great way to continue learning.”
On Deer Pond:
“It’s a very beautiful piece of land. It’s very peaceful and very restorative. You go there and you feel very calm and at peace.”
On how this is different than what she studies professionally (microbiology):
“Looking at things in the natural environment and looking at the geology or at the anatomy—that was something I wanted to pursue and get a greater knowledge of. Being out in the natural environment, seeing the herpatory, the geology—seeing how that web comes together was intriguing to me.”
On the benefits of volunteering:
“I honestly feel that I get more out of going there and participating and helping than I give. If you’re there for four hours or five hours, it sometimes feels like you’ve just arrived. It doesn’t feel like a chore, it doesn’t feel tedious. You’re there and you’re sharing the experience with people of a similar mindset.”
