Member profile: Rowena Ahia

October 2018 – A graduate student at the University of Connecticut, Rowena Ahia sought a meaningful way to complete her community service hours for a scholarship. She found it at the Center in Glastonbury, where she started as a front desk volunteer. After training in bird handling, she moved to animal care. Now you’ll find her showing eager visitors raptors, along with snakes and turtles.

Volunteering has been such a welcome change from her studies in microbiology that she makes time for it during the semester.

“I love volunteering and doing this kind of work because it gives me a break from the lab. It’s a different perspective [from microbiology]. Since I spend a lot of time working with things I can’t really see, it’s nice to work with an animal. I enjoy it because it’s different.

“Snakes are interesting and the ones that we have at the Center are corn snakes, so they’re very friendly. When I come in on Saturdays, the first thing I do is open the snake enclosure and take one out and put them around my neck. A lot of people are afraid of snakes, but given the chance to touch one in a safe environment with someone else supervising, a lot people go for it. And then they start to ask questions. That’s really cool to me, seeing people not only face their fears but want to learn more about something that was initially so scary to them. Now they’re curious about it.

“It’s an overall positive experience and I can’t wait to continue working with [Connecticut Audubon]. Every Saturday, it’s still my fun thing to do.”

Rowena Ahia in a selfie with one of the Center at Glastonbury’s snake.

Why choose Audubon for community service hours?
“I wanted to do something meaningful. I wanted to do something that would give back to the community in the way that I wanted.”

What she’s learned
“It’s a great learning experience, especially to handle the raptors and learn about the ecosystem, where these birds fit in and what their roles are. It’s really fun when kids come in because they’re curious about everything and they ask all kinds of questions. It’s fun to do that kind of work.”

Interview by Liz Acas.