PEOPLE & 



PLACES 



JoAnne Powell shows a shell to a group on afield trip to Rachel Carson Reserve. 



JoAnne Ibwell: 



EKtraordinary Educator 



A 



JoAnne Powell guides a 

 group through a salt marsh on Rachel 

 Carson Reserve on Taylor's Creek, she 

 realizes she is missing an important piece of 

 equipment. 



"This is one of the few times that I 

 have forgotten my binoculars on a field 

 trip," says Powell, education curator at the 

 North Carolina Maritime Museum in 

 Beaufort. "I am out of my element. I love to 

 watch birds." 



By Ann Green 



Even without her binoculars, Powell 

 spots a sanderling running up and down the 

 beach and a willet feeding on a mud flat. 



"We know it is a willet because of the 

 white stripes on the wings," she says. 

 "Without the stripes, it looks like many 

 other shore birds." 



Powell's enthusiasm for birds has 

 become legendary around Carteret County. 

 She initiated the first birdwatching program 

 at the Maritime Museum and has taken 



numerous birding trips to South America. 



"JoAnne is an excellent birder and a 

 great educator," says North Carolina Sea 

 Grant marine education specialist Lundie 

 Spence. "She can wind a story between a 

 bird, the island's history and its people. She 

 gives a full story." 



Because of her interest in birds and 

 boundless energy, Powell has been 

 compared to a hummingbird. 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 25 



