Volunteer Spotlight: Frances Cerbins

By Leslie Menikoff.

One of the benefits of birding is meeting fellow enthusiasts, most of whom are very interesting people, Frances Cerbins included.   I enjoyed meeting Frances and learning more about her work with Travis Audubon. Our interview follows.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

“I grew up in north Texas, in Greenville. I’m married to Oscar, and I have three adult children who all live in Austin. We moved here in 2006 from Maryland. The kids grew up in Houston, and then we moved to Maryland for 12 years. Our daughter was here in school, so she stayed and we came to live by her.

I went to a little school in north Texas, Austin College, and then I came to UT to graduate school, in math. UT did not even have a graduate program in computer science then — that was in the 70’s. I got out of school and got a job with a NASA contractor, so I got to work on Apollo and Shuttle. It was really fun. I was young and out of school, and it was a dream job.”

And your birding journey?

“I pretty much started birding when I came here, but I had birded before. In Houston, I was a volunteer at Armand Bayou Nature Center for a long time.  It’s a really cool place. Armand Bayou Nature Center is the last of the natural bios in Houston.  We lived in Clear Lake City, so it was halfway between Houston and Galveston.  We were there when it got saved from development. I have a special place in my heart for it. I took some birding trips with them. Then I moved to Maryland, and I hiked the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal which goes along the Potomac, and I took some birding classes up there, too. We moved here, and I joined Travis Audubon, and I took Jean Martin’s birding class.  I think I took it three times.”

What about your volunteer work with Travis Audubon?

“I started out as a volunteer in the office. Our database was a spreadsheet kind of thing. With my background in computer science, I helped them evolve through two other databases. I was learning my way, but nobody else knew it either so we were kind of learning together.  I helped hire Nicole Netherton (Travis Audubon Executive Director).  I’m very proud of that. Nicole has a business background, and she recognized the need for more staff, so she’s helped develop the staff.  She’s outstanding.

I also was Chair of the Education Committee at one time, and then I was on the Board for six years and then president for three years, which is a learning experience, that’s for sure.  There are some really wonderful people who had been serving on the board and had given a lot of their knowledge to help us.”

What is it about your volunteering that particularly lights your fire?

“I love the birding part of it certainly and the socializing, getting to know the people.  I’m not as good a birder as most of them, but I like to go outside… Just being outside in nature is very healthy, I think, and for mental health, too.”

How are you involved now?

“I’ve been working at Blair Woods a lot, and we’re trying to come up with a master plan for Blair Woods and I’m very excited about that. They’ve just put in a new trail. I love it because it’s close-in. I love Baker Sanctuary and Chaetura Canyon also, and Commons Ford is one of my very favorite places in the world, but it’s nice to have an inner city place, like Blair.  It’s open every day. I think it will be a great urban place, a destination. A lot of children are going out there, school groups.”

Do you volunteer anywhere else?

“I’m on the board of Texas Ornithological Society right now. I volunteer at church and at TOS.  It’s a state-wide organization, and [its goal is] to spread the word about birding. It’s a real old organization.  They keep state records.  It’s an interesting group. They have great meetings twice a year, where you meet in different parts of the state.  You know (in Austin), we have a great local program (for birding), but a lot of places in the state don’t.  They’ll just have birding clubs. So this provides support, especially land preservation.  They have birding sanctuaries by High Island: Hooks Woods in Winnie and Sabine Woods, south of Orange.”

When you were starting your birding journey, and it’s been pretty long now, Houston, up to Maryland and back to Austin, how would you guide new birders?

“Just get out and go. It doesn’t matter how good you are. There’s always somebody there to help. I’m impressed with all the new birders coming in to Travis Audubon. I bet the average age has gone down ten years since I joined. I think that’s a really good sign.”

I agree. The common thread between all of us birders is a love of birds, place, and nature. And hopefully, giving back to this wonderful pastime, like Frances Cerbins.