Fairfield Girl Scout Creates Virtual Tour Of Wildlife Sanctuary

FAIRFIELD, CT — For Sage Garver, a 17-year-old junior at Fairfield Ludlowe High School, her nearby neighbor — The Connecticut Audubon Society on Burr Street — has always been a second home.

That’s why when she set out to do her Gold Award project — the highest honor for a Girl Scout — she wanted it to be something that might help serve the place where she has participated as a volunteer.

“I’ve been going there since I was little,” she said, having developed an affinity for botany and biology in part through her time at the sanctuary.

Garver created a virtual tour of the Roy & Margot Larsen Sanctuary. It’s a 21-stop guided walk through the sanctuary, highlighting different animals and plants that make up the ecosystem, with accompanying pictures and even videos featuring commentary by some Audubon staff.

“It covers the main parts of the sanctuary that we usually recommend people take walks on,” she said. “You can walk the trail and stop and listen to the volunteers.”

Working through Connecticut Audubon's app, she said, the tour can also be accessed from home.

“It’s kind of designed for while you’re taking your walk, to be more in tune (but) it’s just however it’s effective for you,” she said.

Coincidentally, she said, the society itself had long been contemplating a similar project.

“They’ve been actually wanting to do this for years when they made the app and I just happened to have the same idea,” she said.

Joyce Leiz, director of development for Connecticut Audubon, helped work with Garver planning the project.

“We were immediately onboard,” she said. “Connecticut Audubon has had the pleasure of working with several Eagle Scouts, so we were honored to be selected by Sage.”

She said Garver interviewed different members of the staff and volunteer teams, researched the content and created video. Her work was so successful that the model is being shared with other Connecticut Audubon locations to potentially implement similar projects.

“Her attention to detail, interest in sharing nature information, and commitment to this project has been inspiring,” Leiz said. “Her vision for the tour is setting the standard for future tours of other Connecticut Audubon sanctuaries.”

Part of the requirements for a Gold Award project are that it be sustainable. For instance, Garver said, you can’t just build a fence; it needs to be something that you can guarantee will be around years into the future.

“So it usually takes a bit more time and planning in that sense,” she said. “You have to find a way to make your project sustainable, so in 10 years is this project still going to have an impact on the community?”

The element of education, she said, works for the requirement, as learning is something that stays with people and — ideally — is even passed on.

In the spirit of education, Garver had to devote considerable time to learning the necessary tools for creating the virtual project, including taking a graphic design course at school to prepare.

In what little spare time that Garver has — beyond taking part in the botany club she founded at her school — she also enjoys sailing, dance and spending time with friends.