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Kylie Stoneburner
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I got my BS in biology from UW, Bothell. My original career path was to become a surgeon, but nature grabbed me and I switched my focus. After graduating, I started volunteering with Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group on their Summer Chum monitoring project; and with West Sound Wildlife Shelter rehabilitating wild animals. I interned with HCSEG as a steelhead research technician and became a raptor handler at WSWS presenting animals at educational programs. Then I worked full-time with WDFW conserving and monitoring threatened salmon and steelhead populations in the Hood Canal and Straits. My entire career has been working with animals and wild spaces, so it’s very natural for me to introduce that to children and nurture the same love of nature in the next generation.
How do you like to spend your time in nature?
My favorite thing to do in nature is observing. Witnessing wildlife without them knowing I'm there. A quiet sit-spot or silent walk through the woods, watching animal behaviors and interactions, listening to nature's communications. Looking for tracks, or scat, or pellets; picturing the animals that left them crossing the same path I'm on, just at another time. Re-visiting a regular spot, witnessing changes over time.
What’s one value or skill you hope every child takes from your classroom?
To have wonder and respect for nature. To be open to its stories and excited about its treasures. To desire to find refuge in nature.
Do you have a favorite local plant, animal, or natural spot?
Ferns! A forest full of ferns just feels so prehistoric, like I can forget about the urban world. Not to mention, grabbing a sturdy handful of ferns have saved me from slipping down hillsides more times than I could count while surveying streams!
What’s one small joy that always makes you smile at school?
When I hear preschoolers say words like “deciduous”, “migration”, “chlorophyll”; when parents tell us that their children told them why leaves change colors while on a family walk, or the reason geese fly in a “V” formation; or when the students pretend to be migrating birds, or spawning salmon. All this is such a joy that the natural lessons we teach are getting absorbed and that it will stick with the children long after our time together.
How do you like to spend your time in nature?
My favorite thing to do in nature is observing. Witnessing wildlife without them knowing I'm there. A quiet sit-spot or silent walk through the woods, watching animal behaviors and interactions, listening to nature's communications. Looking for tracks, or scat, or pellets; picturing the animals that left them crossing the same path I'm on, just at another time. Re-visiting a regular spot, witnessing changes over time.
What’s one value or skill you hope every child takes from your classroom?
To have wonder and respect for nature. To be open to its stories and excited about its treasures. To desire to find refuge in nature.
Do you have a favorite local plant, animal, or natural spot?
Ferns! A forest full of ferns just feels so prehistoric, like I can forget about the urban world. Not to mention, grabbing a sturdy handful of ferns have saved me from slipping down hillsides more times than I could count while surveying streams!
What’s one small joy that always makes you smile at school?
When I hear preschoolers say words like “deciduous”, “migration”, “chlorophyll”; when parents tell us that their children told them why leaves change colors while on a family walk, or the reason geese fly in a “V” formation; or when the students pretend to be migrating birds, or spawning salmon. All this is such a joy that the natural lessons we teach are getting absorbed and that it will stick with the children long after our time together.