Wren, our first scholarship student…

Observation date: 10 May 2016

To those of you who contributed to our $1,000 PCPW Scholarship, we have great news about our recipient. We met with Wren Thompson of Los Osos, CA after she returned from her semester of study in Ireland. Now we want you to meet her too. Maybe you thought we gave our scholarship to a bird… Well, in a way we did!

Bob and Wren                                            Photo by Heather O’Connor

Wren Thompson’s parents, Dean and Staci,  met at Morro Rock and have always been focused on biology, birds and herbs, so their children’s names became Wren and Merlin. Dean, now a teacher and counselor at Camp Keep, was a CalPoly Biology student and worked at the Morro Rock peregrine site. Many years ago when peregrines were very scarce, it seems that Arab sheiks would pay $50,000 for one falcon. He was one of the students who volunteered to spend overnights on the top of the “Rock” to guard and protect them.

Wren is a California Polytechnic student who will receive her Bachelor of Biological Sciences in Wildlife Biology in Spring 2017! She currently is working on Ornithology, Field Botany, and doing research on bird behavior as well as analyzing data on coral populations from the Florida keys.

When I asked her in an email, she wrote that  she loves “working with animal behavior in particular, since I feel like it gives us a whole depth of understanding of animals that we would otherwise miss out on by assuming they communicate and prioritize things the same way as humans… I love the study of biology in general because learning about life and the things around us that we generally take for granted as common…because likely as not, those “common” things have some amazing adaptations that have let them take over the way they have.”

After graduation Wren plans “to do some sort of travel out of the area, find a job doing natural history work or possibly behavioral research in the field, depending on what I manage to find out there! I’m mostly excited to find out what the possibilities will be.”

Recently, she visited Morro Rock and the peregrine falcons with her Ornithology class.

Peregrine falcon in the “Mouth”                                     Photo by Wren Thompson

This summer she’ll  probably be doing more bird behavior work both in the field and working on her senior project dealing with broken wing behaviors.  She’ll  be helping out at Camp KEEP while they do migrant education.

In my opinion, she’s a most enthusiastic person to pursue the fascinating study of biology. She’s a fine thinker and excellent student. We are so glad to have helped her on her way.

You are invited to contribute to our Scholarship Fund for a CalPoly Biology student. We are a 501(c)(3), nonprofit educational organization. Your contribution will be a charitable donation.

Please use the “DONATE” button
or mail a check made out to:

Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch   or   PCPW
765 Center Court
Morro Bay, CA 93442   USA

Please write with “Scholarship Fund” on the Memo line

Another student would be so grateful for the help… As you know, college is so costly these days. A giant “thank you” to those of you who did make contributions last year!

Heather and Wren                                 Photo by Bob Isenberg

Any encouraging comments you may make will be passed on to her.

Happy trails, Bob and Heather