March 10, 2018 at 4:55 a.m.
Burnett is up for ROSE award
Burnett is up for ROSE award
For a naturalist, being a ROSE honoree seems to be, well, a natural fit.
Curt Burnette, Limberlost State Historic Site’s naturalist/program specialist, has that designation for being nominated for a Recognition Of Service Excellence (ROSE) award. Honorees will gather for a recognition dinner Tuesday, during which the award winners will be announced.
The ROSE program seeks to recognize non-managerial hospitality employees who make visitors feel special by “going beyond the expectations of their job descriptions these service champions leave lasting impressions that bring true meaning to the phrase ‘Hoosier Hospitality.’” The awards are focused on Indianapolis, but Burnette was eligible because Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites operates from the Circle City. Director of communications Hannah Kiefer nominated him for the honor.
“Any time anybody’s nominated for an award … it’s always a good feeling to be recognized. That’s pretty much how I feel,” said Burnette, who has worked at the site in Geneva since January 2012. “It’s nice that they recognize me as someone who works hard to make sure our visitors have a great experience here.”
Curt Burnette, Limberlost State Historic Site’s naturalist/program specialist, has that designation for being nominated for a Recognition Of Service Excellence (ROSE) award. Honorees will gather for a recognition dinner Tuesday, during which the award winners will be announced.
The ROSE program seeks to recognize non-managerial hospitality employees who make visitors feel special by “going beyond the expectations of their job descriptions these service champions leave lasting impressions that bring true meaning to the phrase ‘Hoosier Hospitality.’” The awards are focused on Indianapolis, but Burnette was eligible because Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites operates from the Circle City. Director of communications Hannah Kiefer nominated him for the honor.
“Any time anybody’s nominated for an award … it’s always a good feeling to be recognized. That’s pretty much how I feel,” said Burnette, who has worked at the site in Geneva since January 2012. “It’s nice that they recognize me as someone who works hard to make sure our visitors have a great experience here.”
Burnette had been working at Indianapolis Zoo when he decided he wanted something a little slower paced. (He refers to zookeeping as a “young person’s game.”) That’s when he found the opening at the Limberlost site.
He has a variety of duties there, including giving tours of the Gene Stratton Porter house and leading nature hikes. There’s also a fair amount of administrative work, research about Stratton Porter and the the area’s history, and hiking the Limberlost to get to know it better.
Burnette takes the lead in putting together the site’s variety of programs, from nature hikes to Easter egg hunts. With each, he tries to make sure to include learning and fun.
“In my mind, there’s no question, if you’re having fun, you’re learning, you’re remembering,” he said, explaining that this year’s Easter egg hunt will include a petting zoo and a lesson about eggs after which children will graduate as “eggheads.” “If you’re bored, it’s not going to stick in your head. So I try to make it fun and educational.”
Burnette, who grew up in on a hog farm near Bloomington, Illinois, before moving to Jasper County, Indiana, as a teenager, spent a large chunk of his career working in zoos after graduating from Purdue University in 1979 with a degree in wildlife science. That included eight years at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans.
He also spent time working at a nature center and with a Cajun swamp tour. But Hurricane Katrina convinced him he wasn’t interested in staying in southern Louisiana. So he moved back to the Hoosier state, and eventually Randy Lehman seized the opportunity to bring him to Geneva.
Burnette was honored in 2013 with the Clyde W. Hibbs Environmental Education Award from the Robert Cooper Audubon Society.
“He’s the kind of naturalist that communicates well,” said Lehman, former site administrator and now a volunteer at Limberlost State Historic Site. “He’s an expert.
“To have a guy like that … it certainly helps at a state historic site that’s promoting not only Gene Stratton Porter but the Limberlost wetlands.”
And deserving of the ROSE award?
“If anybody should get it, it should be him,” Lehman said.
He has a variety of duties there, including giving tours of the Gene Stratton Porter house and leading nature hikes. There’s also a fair amount of administrative work, research about Stratton Porter and the the area’s history, and hiking the Limberlost to get to know it better.
Burnette takes the lead in putting together the site’s variety of programs, from nature hikes to Easter egg hunts. With each, he tries to make sure to include learning and fun.
“In my mind, there’s no question, if you’re having fun, you’re learning, you’re remembering,” he said, explaining that this year’s Easter egg hunt will include a petting zoo and a lesson about eggs after which children will graduate as “eggheads.” “If you’re bored, it’s not going to stick in your head. So I try to make it fun and educational.”
Burnette, who grew up in on a hog farm near Bloomington, Illinois, before moving to Jasper County, Indiana, as a teenager, spent a large chunk of his career working in zoos after graduating from Purdue University in 1979 with a degree in wildlife science. That included eight years at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans.
He also spent time working at a nature center and with a Cajun swamp tour. But Hurricane Katrina convinced him he wasn’t interested in staying in southern Louisiana. So he moved back to the Hoosier state, and eventually Randy Lehman seized the opportunity to bring him to Geneva.
Burnette was honored in 2013 with the Clyde W. Hibbs Environmental Education Award from the Robert Cooper Audubon Society.
“He’s the kind of naturalist that communicates well,” said Lehman, former site administrator and now a volunteer at Limberlost State Historic Site. “He’s an expert.
“To have a guy like that … it certainly helps at a state historic site that’s promoting not only Gene Stratton Porter but the Limberlost wetlands.”
And deserving of the ROSE award?
“If anybody should get it, it should be him,” Lehman said.
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