Wildlife Programs

Pam currently offers contract teaching and consultation services to schools and museums, bringing live animals and wildlife education to the public.  For details, choose one of the areas on the right side of the page.

For more information or booking call (510) 530-7826 or e-mail pamswan@pamswan.com

Background and Experience

     Pam began working at the Department of Natural Resources in 1978.  Zoo internships, wildlife management courses and animal behavior training led to a research position at Marine World Africa in the 1980's, studying dolphin communication and cognition.  She was hired as a naturalist at Lindsay Wildlife Museum in 1991 teaching classes and leading field trips in the San Francisco bay area. She went on to become the Museum's Adult Education manager, where she established the Wildlife Research and Animal Behavior teams, training staff and volunteers to handle and teach about wild animals. 

     Since 1999 she has been with the California Academy of Sciences, developing educational programming with live animals for exhibits including Venoms: Striking Beauties, Science Under Sail, Audubon, and Skulls.  Her lectures and programs are now offered at the Academy's new Howard St. location in downtown San Francisco.

    Over the past 20 years Pam has trained police dogs, flown falcons, raised bobcats, relocated rattlesnakes, and taught hundreds of  wildlife classes.  She's managed field research projects studying eagles, beaver, owls, rattlesnakes, peregrine falcons and ravens, and worked on wildlife rehab projects with Dall's porpoise, beaked whales, pygmy sperm whale, leatherback turtles and many species of corvids and raptors.  She's been a science writer, naturalist on a whale watching boat, a museum manager, director of research, conference speaker, field trip leader and classroom science teacher. 

     All these jobs had one thing in common-- they give her a chance to share her enthusiasm and sense of wonder with audiences of all ages, helping them develop more appreciation and respect for wildlife.  She continues to enjoy bringing those things to individuals and audiences through educational programs today.

Take a Wildlife Quiz

 Try this gee-whiz quiz for the naturally curious.  Click any link to find the answer page.

1.  Which animal has more bones in its neck, a mouse or a giraffe?  

    answer page

2.  Why can an owl turn its head around 270 degrees?

    answer page

3.  How does a snake eat something 8 times the size of its head?

    answer page

4.  How can you tell the temperature by listening to a cricket?

    answer page

5.  How many songbirds are estimated to be killed by cats

     in North America in ONE DAY?              

     answer page

6.  Why can dogs track scent so much better than humans?

     answer page

7.  What is attached between a woodpecker's eyes that helps him eat?

    answer page

8.  What part of a tarantula's body is used for taste?

     answer page

9.  What group of people is most likely to be bitten by a rattlesnake?

     answer page

10.  If you see a tarantula walking outside in October in California,

        is it more likely to be male or female? 

     answer page

11.  Why don't turtles drown when they stay underwater for several days?

    answer page

12.  What's the difference between poison and venom in an animal?

     answer page

13.  Will a mother bird reject a baby that has been touched by humans?

     answer page

14.  How do archeologists tell a person's age from the skull?

    answer page

15.  If one pair of Norway Rats had a litter of babies and they all survived,

    and their offspring had litters who all survived, how many Norway Rats

    would there be at the end of 2 years?

    answer page

These last 5 questions you'll have to find the answers to on your own...

16.  Where is the watershed nearest to your house?  What animals live there?

Center for Watershed Protection

17.  If you found an injured or orphaned animal, where could you take it?

International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council

18.  What animals are on the list of wildlife that you have seen from your own yard?

Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program

19.  Is there a wildlife volunteer organization in your area that could use your help?

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Volunteers

20.   When is the last time you went on a nature hike?  What are you waiting for?

Sierra Club