Dan Soudran brought a 30-foot gray whale to Greenfield

Some days I get to meet amazing people. Today was one of those.

Dan Soudran, founder of Community Science Workshops, came to Greenfield to show students at Vista Verde Middle School the skeleton of a 30-ft whale that got beached on Half Moon Bay.

Soudran came up with the idea of starting community science workshops about two decades ago, and his network has nearly a dozen in rural areas like Greenfield and Watsonville. I've been wanting to interview him for a while, so today, even though I was supposed to be on vacation, I came in to talk to him.

It was a real treat. Dan's energy and enthusiasm for getting children inspired about science is contagious. The students really got into exploring the bones, even tried to use a cow hip like a mask.



Plus, he likes Antonio Machado, one of my favorite poets! In the middle of our interview, he quoted Machado's most famous poem, "Caminante, no hay camino. Se hace camino al andar."

There are no roads. We make the roads as we walk.

What a treat! Dan, come back soon!