EASTHAMPTON — Maya Rappaport froze, with eyes locked on a massive silhouette slicing through the sky. It was a wingspan that could only belong to a bird of prey — either a red-tailed hawk or a great horned owl. For the new manager of the Mass Audubon Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary, this wasn’t just a lucky sighting; it was a typical Thursday at the office.
“It was either a red-tail hawk or I had sights on a great horned owl,” said Rappaport holding binoculars at the Easthampton nature preserve. “It was really big but the wingspan was probably better for a red tail. There’s a big bird of prey out there.”
Spotting birds and different forms of wildlife has been a common occurrence for Rappaport since becoming the Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary’s new manager last September. In fact, it’s part of their job to report on different species seen at the approximately 734-acre sanctuary, that spans between Easthampton and Northampton.
“I sort of have a little bit to do with everything,” Rappaport said. “A lot of my work focuses on public engagement.”
Since starting the role working alongside Operations Manager Jessica Womack, Rappaport has worked to steward the longstanding programs of the sanctuary, such as the preschool, camps and community events like the beloved Arcadia Folk Festival, while bringing new ideas for engagement.
Rappaport is no stranger to working in nature, having previously conducted field research for several nonprofits and research groups in states like New Hampshire, Utah and Colorado. In Montana, Rappaport reminisced about canoeing down the Missouri River, studying changes to Cottonwood trees and the impact it had on bird species.
Driven by a love for nature and scientific storytelling, Rappaport aims to share that passion with local residents by expanding accessibility programming.
“We’re creating opportunities for engaging folks from all walks of life, from all life stages, so that people feel like they actually are supposed to be in nature,” Rappaport said. “They’re welcomed into nature. It’s something that they’re able to do so people feel that sense of empowerment.”
Rappaport graduated from the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, before earning a master’s degree from Northern Arizona University. Through that education and research experience, Rappaport said they found a love for scientific storytelling.
“I was constantly finding myself like storytelling, so I had this sense that science communications was this area that needed a lot more capacity,” Rappaport said.
Rappaport, originally from central Massachusetts, landed in Northampton approximately two years ago working as a communications manager for the American Farmland Trust, a federal nonprofit. After the position was reduced last year due to budget cuts, Rappaport said a new job hunt began, applying to Arcadia.
Rappaport said that was one of the best applications to submit, finding that working in a passionate conservation group under Mass Audubon has tailored perfectly to their skill set.
“I will say, being at Mass Audubon is like very dreamy for me in a lot of ways. The focus of the work really clicks with who I am as a person,” Rappaport said. “I’m really interested in birds, access to nature, working with community groups, doing ecological preservation.”
Mass Audubon oversees more than 50 sanctuaries throughout the state. Rappaport said the conservation nonprofit provides an overarching guidance to sanctuaries like Arcadia through statewide goals and guidance. But the sanctuary has its own liberties to structure programming.
“There are statewide goals that we all tap into, but also there’s a great amount of support for our own programming and initiatives,” said Rappaport of Mass Audubon.
Rappaport said Mass Audubon is one of the groups spearheading statewide efforts for the “30×30” initiative. The agreement came about at the COP15 climate change forum in 2022 as leaders from 190 countries united around a shared goal to reverse the Earth’s loss of nature and to mitigate climate change. The global pledge included conserving 30% of each country’s land and water by 2030. In Massachusetts, 27% of the state’s land is permanently conserved. Rappaport says that to support the work of Arcadia and Mass Audubon as a whole, the organization relies on memberships and donations.
“We are ramping up our accessibility programming,” Rappaport said.
At the beginning of May, there will be LGBTQIA+ pride programming hosted at the sanctuary, hosting a series of different nature walks and activities.
On May 16, the sanctuary will host a “bird-a-thon” that Rappaports says will accommodate everyone. “Folks are encouraged to bird in the way that feels good for them. So if you’re low vision or blind, bird by ear. If you have auditory disabilities, bird with your eyes. If you have mobility disabilities, you can stay in one place,” they said.
This spring, the sanctuary will start a monthly nature play day which will be held on the third Saturday of each month. “We will welcome community members with kids to just come and hang out and enjoy our amazing nature play area, which was just finished last fall,” they said.
Rappaport said the sanctuary will host an event for “Big Night,” which they described as the first rainy day above freezing temperatures in the spring, when a “crazy amphibian migration is triggered where there are several species of salamander. I want people to know about that, and a bunch of frogs and other things like fairy shrimp and other weird little guys. Suddenly the world just like explodes.”
For more information, visit massaudubon.org/places-to-explore/wildlife-sanctuaries/arcadia.