Tag: education

Two Penn Dixie employees promoted; full time staff doubles in two years

Two Penn Dixie employees promoted; full time staff doubles in two years

Penn Dixie

Penn Dixie Fossil Park & Nature Reserve announces two staff promotions: Dr. Holly Schreiber has been promoted to Associate Director and Sydney Mecca has been promoted to full time Marketing & Development Coordinator.

“I’m thrilled that my new role will allow me to continue to help Penn Dixie grow in new and exciting ways. I’m eager to find and work with new community partners to bring the organization’s mission of hands-on science education to even more people” says Dr. Holly Schreiber. A paleontologist by training, she previously served as director of education after joining Penn Dixie in February 2017. Her new role includes administration, grant writing, and program management duties in service of our nonprofit’s science education mission.

“I’m excited to be a part of an organization that connects our local and international communities with the wonders of the natural world” says Sydney Mecca. Prior to the promotion, Sydney worked as a seasonal naturalist for the Niagara Region Park Interpretive Programs Office in 2020 and 2021. During this time they created and led public nature programs, updated nature center displays, and assisted with virtual field trip videos. They also worked in a part time capacity for Penn Dixie in a marketing role, handling social media and website development. Sydney’s new role will focus on engaging new audiences via marketing and promotions, coordinating organization fundraising activities, and creating new STEM program offerings.

Sydney becomes the fourth full time employee at Penn Dixie, doubling the number of full time positions at the organization since February 2020.

Dr. Holly Schreiber leading a fossil dig at Penn Dixie.
Sydney Mecca at Eighteen Mile Creek.
Paleo Pals

Paleo Pals

Penn Dixie

Join Ms. Catherine and your other friends, once a month, as we read an earth science story together. Will there be singing? Crafts? Show-and-tell? Yes, yes, yes, and more! Can’t wait to see you there. Storybook titles and authors, as well as weekly topics, can be found below if you wish to check them out from the library or order them yourself to follow along more closely at home. Sign Up Here!

Saturday, April 10th @ 10 am – Here We Go Digging for Dinosaur Bones by Susan Lendroth
A call back to our 1st month’s paleontological feature but this time with song — and hand motions! Join us as we learn and sing a little song to help us remember all of the important steps used in dino bone finding, collecting, and prepping. Wear your gear to collect dino bones – hats and vests encouraged!

Sign Up Here! We’ll contact you with a Zoom link prior to each program.

Workshops

Workshops

Penn Dixie

Introducing Penn Dixie’s new monthly Workshop series. This series is meant to tap into your interests, spark your creativity, and sharpen some new skills along the way. Virtual workshops relating to specimen identification, sample preparation, and astronomy are some of the topics we plan to cover this year until we can meet again safely in person and collaborate together.

Pre-registration is required as workshops are interactive and meant to be participatory – registration will close at 5 pm the evening before the program. Guests are welcome to actively participate in the workshop by asking questions to the host directly and to the moderator via the chat feature – questions will be answered in real time. Similarly, a registration email with household supplies needed to successfully participate will be sent along prior to each program. Sign Up Here!

Saturday, April 17th @ 1 pm – Paleo Art: Bringing the Past to Life with artist Eric Warren
Together we’ll draw Penn Dixie’s coveted Eldredgeops rana with the guidance of artist and teacher Eric Warren. He’ll walk us through how to bring the past to life with different drawing and coloring techniques. Discover how these animals would have looked and moved when they were alive and translate that to the page – with some artistic license, of course! This workshop is open to all ages but may move quickly for some of the younger artists. Playback will be available after the program via our Facebook and YouTube.

If you plan to follow along in real-time be sure to have the following on hand:
White paper, graphite pencil, eraser, colored pencils

Sign Up Here! We’ll contact you with a Zoom link prior to each program.

Science Talks

Science Talks

Penn Dixie

Join us on the second Wednesday of every month as we settle in together and learn something new from an esteemed guest lecturer. Join us virtually via Zoom or our Facebook page as we reintroduce Penn Dixie’s Science Talks. Series highlights include lectures relating to mineralogy, petrology, and astronomy. These free science talks are meant to take the place of our in-person lectures until we are able to meet in person safely again. Sign Up Here!

Wednesday, April 14th @ 7 pm – Champions for Conservation presented by Lisa Thibault from the Buffalo Zoo
Meet a few endangered species, see how the Buffalo Zoo tackles conservation, and learn how you can be a conservation champion at home.

Lisa Thibault is the Onsite Programs Specialist at the Buffalo Zoo. She has her B.A. in Zoology and her MAT in Biology and spent her college career conducting studies in ecology and conservation education techniques. She currently works with student of all ages and teaches a variety of biological topics.

Sign Up Here! We’ll contact you with a Zoom link prior to each program.