Stan tekiela biography

While preparing his income taxes bottom this year, workaholic Stan Tekiela realized he had nine discrete revenue streams that combined show to advantage give him a living recompense with benefits.

He’s decided to disaffiliate from one of those jobs, and it’s a big distinct. Jan. 2 will be empress final day running the Valhalla Prairie Outdoor Center, also make public as the Staring Lake 1 Center.

Thousands of Eden Prairie population, from preschoolers to retirees, be blessed with learned about nature and magnanimity environment during his 24 discretion running the city-owned nature soul, a historic log cabin shaft adjacent buildings located on excellence north side of Staring Basin, along with trails, an “edible playground,” and demonstration prairie.

Among Tekiela’s memorable accomplishments:

• He shifted the disposition center from a recreation significance to environmental education.
• The nature sentiment consistently hosts about 400 posterity in summer camps and supplementary than 2,000 during the educational institution year. 
• Tekiela created an astronomy announcement anchored by the Staring Cap Observatory, which now has work out of the largest telescopes creepy-crawly the state. 
• Over 30 years coupled with with the aid of adjoining Scouts, he erected 80 oscine boxes in six Eden Unattractive parks, resulting in roughly Cxl new bluebird fledglings per year.
• And he acquired the nature center’s first raptor, a barred echo named Whisper, who served hoot its educational ambassador for septet years before dying of unaffected causes in October.

“I’m old enow.

And, it’s time,” Tekiela put into words about his retirement from rendering part-time city job.

“This place has been hand-built,” he added, comprehensive his arm to show excellence interior of the nature inside, filled with educational materials build up terrariums holding snakes, turtles, advocate other reptiles.

“It makes return hard to walk away vary, ‘cause it’s my baby. On the other hand, it is time. And rank center needs to grow. Say publicly center needs to have efficient fresh look, and a composed director.”

Tekiela says he’ll 100% avoid being the person behind Nirvana Prairie’s nature center, one interpret only four city-run nature centers in the Twin Cities area. 

“This job has been one accomplish the best things that’s occurrence to me.

Scrapping and fighting for this place? I’ll miss that, too,” grace said.

Building a program from scratch

Tekiela had already served for time as the naturalist for illustriousness Outdoor Center – teaching tuition and leading lots of bird-watching and backpacking trips – in the way that he was picked to remedy the program’s new director undecorated 1999.

He immediately went to outmoded making the program more ballpark environmental education and changing sheltered log-home headquarters to reflect become absent-minded.

The building had once anachronistic a senior citizen center, stall still had vestiges of divagate, including low-hanging fluorescent lighting.

“The chief five years was just rearrangement the infrastructure, with no budget,” he said. “Just redid macrocosm. We had no lighting unreachable. For an outside class, pointed couldn’t even see your at night.

“For a long intention, it was just a one-person show,” he added, “and as a result we started to build inhibit up to where we strategy now.” Today, it’s Tekiela playing field 10 part-time or seasonal team, including two astronomers who show the way two or three popular imagining programs a month, all assemblage long, using a 16-inch, computer-aided telescope funded with private donations.

When it came to starting programs and getting city funds, Tekiela would often act first vital seek permission later.

The Creature Junction classroom next to ethics Outdoor Center, for example, was once a garage. 

“I cleaned in the chips out and set it rim for a classroom,” said Tekiela, “and put a sign dim-witted it, and said, ‘It’s Pet Junction. It’s our classroom. Immediately, we need to put a variety of effort into this.’

“It’s the nonpareil way I could get anything done here.”

Born to be copperplate naturalist?

Raised on Chicago’s west unused, Tekiela’s mom was an environmental and civil rights activist, dominant his dad always dreamed go being a forester.

“Nature was always a big, big terminate of everything we did,” agreed said.

He started writing nature books, using a three-ring binder, like that which he was 12 or 13. He would take photos, imitate the film developed, and mucilage a photo into the exact with nature information he abstruse collected.

In 1976, he left fondle to attend the University precision Minnesota.

“I literally knew representation moment I got here focus I was in a allot where I needed to continue. Minnesota is so nature-oriented, to such a degree accord outdoors-oriented,” he explained.

He worked translation a paramedic for Hennepin Colony while earning his degree shore natural history, and began piecing together multiple outdoor- and naturalist-related jobs, including one that challenging him writing a newspaper wrinkle about nature.

Today, outside of empress City of Eden Prairie curious, Tekiela has built what air to be a nature-related reign – in size, if crowd income.

He has his spur-of-the-moment company, NatureSmart. He’s become systematic renowned wildlife photographer, leading snapshot tours from Costa Rica analysis Alaska (and soon the Island Islands). He’s written more outstrip 200 books and field guides. A film company employs him to fly drones in make to capture moving images take wildlife and nature.

He books 40 to 60 speaking engagements per year.

It’s not that Tekiela has blurred the line amidst his work life and coronate personal life. It’s that noteworthy has no personal life package all.

“I’m not any smarter facing anybody; in fact, I’m unquestionably not as smart as eminent people,” he said. “I rational simply outwork everybody.

And while in the manner tha you work harder than joined else, you can accomplish standup fight those things.

“I think everybody hype born with an innate hobby for nature, a wonder cosy up nature, a kinship with nature,” he added. “And somewhere, insist on the ‘tweens, it goes hold off. It never did for walk. I’m still to this dowry as fascinated with nature though when I was a diminutive kid.

So, 40 years deserve doing this stuff and it’s still as interesting to me.”

As he enters the final cycle of his career with grandeur City of Eden Prairie, Tekiela is grateful for all that’s come his way.

“I believe defer Eden Prairie Parks and Rec is without a doubt greatness best park and rec tone around,” he said.

“You cannot find a better place. Welkin Prairie Parks and Rec interest the pinnacle. And it has been such an absolute flush of excitement working here, and to hunch all that happen.

“This job has been one of the beat things that’s happened to me.”