A family visiting the Eagle Creek Ornithology Center watched as the 5-year-old bald eagle, Carson, made his way down from a perch to greet Park Manager Jenna McElroy and have some lunch.

The bald eagle, named after pioneering environmentalist Rachel Carson, came to the center from a marsh near Cleveland after falling from a nest when he was only a month old. He won’t ever be able to fly again, but McElroy and the center provide him everything he needs, including his favorite foods.

McElroy started working at the center as a part-time naturalist 10 years ago after studying biology and environmental education. She credits her parents’ love of nature and birds for her journey to becoming an environmental educator, and said she enjoys sharing her love of nature in the exact job that she wanted.

At the center, McElroy feeds Carson lunch while speaking with the visiting family that is clearly enjoying watching the eagle and listening intently to McElroy. We met with McElroy in late June to ask her about her job and the environment. Her answers are edited for brevity and clarity.

SUGGEST A SUBJECT: Know someone doing good things for Indiana’s environment and want to see them featured here? Email Karl and Sophie at:karl.schneider@indystar.com andSophie.Hartley@indystar.com to let us know.

What makes you proud to work in your field?

I love the way people in our field care about the animals they work with and the passion that people have for their individual animals and how they want them to succeed and be happy and thrive in their environment.

Our animals can’t be released back into the wild, or they are ones bred to educate, and our here just every day is like our team’s main focus is: What can I give Carson today to make him happy? Or how can I make their enclosure better, or give them something fun to do, or train them so that they are more comfortable in their space?

So, it’s a compassionate and sharing community of people who are avian trainers and just animal trainers in general. They really like to share their training successes and how they got there and even their failures so that people can learn from each other.

What is an issue in your field that keeps you up at night?

I think everybody who works with animals is kept up at night because they care so much about them, and they worry about them when they’re not there with them. I really worry when they get sick. These birds will be with us their whole lives. So, Carson the eagle, he’s five years old, but he could live up to 60 years old. So, caring for an animal that long just keeps everybody up at night. If you work with animals, just like if you have a pet at home that’s sick, you’re gonna worry about it all the time.

What advice would you give to Hoosiers to start paying attention to their environment?

We teach a lot of facts about animals we have here and how to identify things in nature, but you don’t have to know any of that. You can just go out and enjoy the spaces. You can watch birds without knowing anything about them, and they can bring you joy. They can help you to feel less anxious.

Definitely, for me, you don’t have to have expensive binoculars to be a birder, or, a fancy camera, you can just call yourself a birder. It’s fine if you just like birds. Anybody can be a nature nerd.

What is your favorite environmental fun fact?

Vultures are great for the environment. Wildlife populations are a lot healthier because when vultures eat carrion, or dead things, they actually digest the bacteria and the viruses and those die in their stomachs. So, there’s less rabies in the environment for other animals. Vultures not only clean up the dead things, but they also make other wildlife in the area healthier.

IndyStar’s environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

Karl Schneider is an IndyStar environment reporter. You can reach him at karl.schneider@indystar.com. Follow him on BlueSky @karlstartswithk.bsky.social or X @karlstartswithk.