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"Your presentation is a great way to add
to/reinforce the information we cover with our animal units second semester.
It also allows for us to keep the class motivated and learning!"
-Ann Sutlive, Third Grade Teacher
"The Boys & Girls Club of Cabarrus County's Camp
Spencer was very fortunate to host Ms. Wilkes' presentation on wildlife in our
environment. Over 150 children participated in her program and reaped the
benefits of her knowledge and experience in environmental education. "
- Joe Habina, Boys & Girls Club,
Director of Operations
"Melody gave a presentation for our preschool
program. Her presentation was informative, hands on and child friendly.
Melody tailored the program for the age group, which were threes, fours and
fives. She was passionate about her work and seemed eager to pass the
information on to future generations. I believe that her knowledge would
be an asset to your program."
-Amanda Windell, Preschool Program
Coordinator / Leslee Lloyd Child Development Center
"Knox Middle School had Ms. Wilkes
present a sea turtle program at our school. Her dedication and expertise
in this field was extraordinary. Melody's willingness to travel to various
schools is a wonderful way for educators to enhance the state-mandated
curriculum. Many times schools face obstacles in enriching the curriculum
through field trips, thus the students lose many valuable learning
opportunities. Melody's passion for environmental education and her
willingness to go the extra mile is truly an asset to all of our students.
We plan on incorporating more of her presentations throughout our science
curriculum."
-Kelly Korniak, Knox Middle School,
Science Department Chairperson
"In this fast paced world we live
in, it's my goal to expose people to wildlife that they may never have the
chance to see or learn about. You would be surprised how many
people don't take the time to get in touch with the plants and animals that are
around them. I would like to encourage everyone to simply take "a
walk in the woods." You never know what you might discover and its
something the whole family can do together. It is a great way to get away
from it all and reconnect to your world."
- Melody Bell
Wilkes, Naturalist & Owner
Melody Bell Wilkes is the founder of A Walk in the
Woods, LLC. She has dedicated her career to inspire and educate people about our
natural world. Please read some of her accomplishments:
 | As Park Manager and Naturalist of Hampton Pines
Park in North Lauderdale, Florida, she was honored
for her environmental work at the White House by President Ronald Reagan in
the "Take Pride in America Campaign" - she was a three time award winner achieving
local, state and national recognition. |
| Ms. Wilkes received much of her career experience
working with wildlife while employed as the Life Science Manager for 15 years
at the Museum of Discovery and Science in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The
highest attended science Museum in the state of Florida serving over 600,000
visitors annually. She administrated the care of a 9,000 sq. ft. Museum
exhibit space that housed 192 species of wildlife including reptiles, birds of
prey, amphibians, mammals, arthropods, marine and freshwater fish and the
largest captive Atlantic Coral Reef in the world. Wildlife
species she specialized in were hatching and rearing sea turtles, alligators, sharks and she made significant contributions to the captive care and
husbandry research of fruit bats and insect eating bats. She also oversaw
the husbandry and captive care of corals, snakes, iguanas, turtles & tortoises,
vultures, hawks, owls, groupers, moray eels, stingrays, frogs, scorpions, tarantulas and honey bees.
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| As Park Manager and Naturalist, she managed a 33
acre cypress hammock, scrub habitat and 6 acre freshwater lake. She
designed and established a nature center, butterfly gardens, bird habitats,
wildflower gardens, fish habitats, provided research on the threatened Gopher Tortoise and delivered over 100 environmental education
programs annually. |
| Her artistic illustrations have been displayed in
science Museums, nature centers, city parks and has aided in wetland research,
sea turtle conservation projects and fund raising for the Audubon Society.
Her habitat composite drawings are on permanent graphic panels exhibited at
the Museum of Discovery in Science in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and the
Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden in Ohio.
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| She reared and released over 3,000 threatened Loggerhead Sea Turtle hatchlings and participated in salvage and stranding
efforts of all 5 species of southeastern endangered sea turtles:
Hawksbills, Greens, Leatherbacks, Loggerheads and Kemp's Ridley. A
children's book was written on one of the Loggerhead hatchlings she
rehabilitated and released. The book is titled Freefall, the sea
turtle that fell from the sky by Lynne Littlefield Hoopes and is published
by the Humane Society.
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| She created the naturalistic design of a
$3.2 million exhibit space consisting of ten indoor
replicated Museum immersion habitats including a Cypress swamp, a Live Oak hardwood forest,
a Mangrove estuary,
an Everglades marsh, a scrub habitat, sinkhole, underwater marine grotto and a
coral reef community. |
| As an airboat tour guide and naturalist for
Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, she toured 300 visitors each week through the northernmost preserved area of the Everglades using
hands-on teaching methodology.
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| As wetlands research assistant, she helped save the
last remaining Pond Apple Slough on the eastern coast of North America - a 200
acre tract. |
| She contributed as a photographer, diver and deckhand
to the Operation Raleigh reconnaissance mission of the tidal caves known as
the Blue Holes in Andros Island, Bahamas. She was a member of a U. S.
team that aided the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and cave divers in
their research efforts. Operation Raleigh is supported by HRH Prince Charles.
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| Education and Certifications include:
Bachelor's degree in Biology, Project Wet, Project Wild, Project Learning
Tree, PIJAC Reptile Specialist, Freshwater Fish Specialist, Small Mammal
Specialist, Master Gardener, Open Water Scuba Diver and North Carolina
Wildlife Federation Habitat Steward. |
A WALK IN THE WOODS would like to give special recognition to the
following:
LYNN SAGE for his outstanding ability to capture wildlife from behind
the camera lens. His pictures captivate audiences and help educate
thousands of people on the plight of many plant and animal species. His
slides are featured in the majority of the environmental education programs that
we offer and are included on this website on the environmental programs page*. Thanks Lynn for your dedication and sharing
your talents in helping raise awareness of our natural world.
*Other photography provided by Melody Wilkes or as noted.
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