Nature at Night with Niki Desautels.

Specializing in environmental learning about the natural world after dark. Working to bring programs about bats, nocturnal wildlife, and more to groups of all ages. For help with program development, community science goals, and in person learning opportunities, please reach out.

We offered education programs for pre-K through adults. Each one to two hour program is catered to the audience age and interests. Program topics can be found here. Please email or use our contact form for questions or to book a program.

Author of For the Love of Bats, a book that celebrates the astonishing diversity of bats, revealing their unique behaviors, habitats, and physiology while making a compelling case for stewardship and conservation. The book is a vivid, place-based exploration of the West’s species, blending natural history with in-the-field experiences. Each chapter introduces the general public to the science of bats—from echolocation and hibernation to foraging and migration—while connecting these traits to broader ecological patterns through stories, striving to help people understand a bat’s world.

Sunset with foliage around the border and two bats flying in the top right.

Programs

We offered education programs for pre-K through adults. Each one to two hour program is catered to the audience age and interests. Program topics include:

  • Animal Smarts: learning to recognize signals and signs in animal behavior, to stay safe on trails and at home. Techniques for safe wildlife observations and things we can do to keep wildlife healthy and wild in our communities.

  • Meet Your Pacific Northwest Wildlife: A fun and engaging introduction to the common wildlife in Western Washington. Curated for those new to the area, or interested in learning more about local wildlife smarts and conservation.

  • Nocturnal Neighbors: who shares our streets and neighborhoods after dark? What are they doing and where do they live? How are they benefitting our cities and our environment. Meet the common urban wildlife creatures of the NW; including coyotes, raccoons, bats, owls, opossums, and more.

  • Sunset Skies: How does our environment shift as the sun goes down? Who is headed to bed, and who is just waking up? Examining swifts and swallows, dragonflies, and bats, we look at flight through three distinct wing groups, while learning about how the world changes after dark and how these sunset fliers thrive at dusk.

  • Working the Night Shift: Which creatures do they work after dark. What does that mean for the habitats they live in? Looking at species both local and far, we will learn about species that make our world turn once the sun goes down.

  • Nocturnal pollinators: From moths, to bats, to primates far far away, important pollination work happens after dark. Who are these nighttime pollinators, how do plants attract pollinators after dark, and what is being pollinated?

  • Night skies: Artificial light at night is everywhere. What impact does the lit up nighttime have and who feels it most. Why is the loss of true darkness so important to wildlife and humans alike. What are we missing out on and how do we reclaim the night?

Specialized species programs on Raccoons, Opossums, and Crows are also available for all groups. More details and downloadable programs are coming soon. Please email or use our contact form for questions or to book a program.

Let’s chat!

CONTACT

  • "I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the dark"

    – The Old Astronomer to his Pupil by Sarah Williams