Anne Schnell attended Washington State University for her B.S. in Wildlife Management and the University of New Hampshire for her M.S. degree in Wildlife Ecology. She was a professor of Environmental Conservation and Horticulture at Finger Lakes Community College in New York State for 21 years, serving as the department chairperson for the last part of her career. Anne’s experience with raptors includes 12 years of capturing, banding and studying wild raptors during the spring migration at Braddock Bay in Hilton, New York. She served as the Vice President of Braddock Bay Raptor Research and director of banding operations for twelve years. She has also led educational programs with non-releasable raptors for many years and is a general falconer.

Paul Schnell, award winning photographer and naturalist, acquired his first raptor (a tiercel American kestrel) in 1971 at age 12. In junior high school, he constructed a backyard waterfowl aviary for his wood ducks, pintails and mallards and other fowl. Paul studied natural resources conservation at Morrisville State College and SUNY Buffalo (1977-1984). His teachers included Richard Kapral (ornithology), Hermann Rahn (physiology) and Erich Klinghammer (ethology)… In the 1980’s he raised pythons and boa constrictors for classroom education, studied to become a practicing falconer and was the raptor curator at the Aquarium of Niagara… In the 1990’s, he developed and incorporated Institute for Environmental Learning in upstate Lyndonville, NY. Here he built the only publicly accessible gray wolf facility in eastern North America where he kept mountain lions as well.

Paul holds master raptor bander and master falconer permits. His photos have appeared in many periodicals, newspapers and 3 books dating back to 1977. He has been an active member of the NYS Outdoor Writer’s Association since 1988.

Paul is one of the few conservationists in the U.S. to actively promote non-coercive efforts to drastically reduce human overpopulation. O.P. is the chief epidemic responsible for virtually all ecosystem and social failures. He has thoughtfully spoken and written about this critical subject since 1979.

Awards

Anne and Paul jointly received the Hugh E. Cumming Environmental Quality Award on October 19, 2008 for their ongoing work in preserving habitat and open space in the Town of Parma.

Anne received an award from the Hawk Migration Association of North America for “outstanding service to further hawk migration study and conservation” in April of 2014.

Some of Paul’s conservation awards include:
Niagara County Federation of Conservation Clubs, Inc. – Jan. 18, 1975 Award of Merit

Who’s Who in the East – 1989/1990

Buffalo Audubon Society Harry J. Kord Recognition Award – May 5, 1993

In 1994, the Institute for Environmental Learning was recognized as the “Top Outdoor Educational Facility” by the National Trails Day Committee.

New York State Outdoor Writer’s Association and Bass Pro Shops “Pass It On” award – Sept. 2007

Niagara County Federation of Conservation Clubs, Inc.
2014 Victor Fitchlee Memorial Award – Lifetime Achievement
“…a lifetime of conservation and education”

“Our job is to prevent that lush orb known as the Earth… from turning into a bleak and barren, dirty brown planet.”

– AZ Senator Barry Morris Goldwater (Jan. 2, 1909-May 29, 1998)