Our Team

Norma Lewis
Director
Amber Shaheyderri
Environmental Educator

Norma was inspired toward ecology as a high school student accepted to an internship at the Cincinnati Museum. Since then, she has gained experience and education working in a variety of wildlife and environmental contexts. While known as “the bat lady,” Norma is also able to care for reptiles, birds of prey, and mammals. She is excited for BCNC’s future as a welcoming place for others to participate in conservation and environmental efforts.

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Joanne Wasdin
Volunteer Outreach Naturalist

Amber has always enjoyed being with animals, as her many rescue pets can attest. She and several of her family members have been volunteers at the center for many years now, and have contributed to local reptile rescue groups. She has a passion for teaching kids, and she especially loves specializing in lizards and snakes. She is looking forward to the new season of growth for BCNC with our many new animal ambassadors to get to know!

Amberlyn Tomlinson
Environmental Educator

Amberlyn was first recruited as a volunteer by BCNC’s outreach naturalist at her university’s Wildlife Club event. While pursuing a biology degree and volunteering at BCNC, she fell in love with the world of environmental education. She enjoys a new challenge every day, and is excited to learn more, especially when it comes to handling birds-of-prey.

Chance Rankin
Volunteer Tech Coordinator

Joanne was introduced to the world of wildlife as an adult through conservation education. She has worked as both the scientist and the science teacher and aims to be a bridge between the two. Whether art and media or moss and mammal research, she hopes to bring her wide array of skills to excite our community about native wildlife opportunities. She loves seeing others notice how awesome our native ecosystems are.

Chance has explored nature since a young age with two parents that work in ecology fields. He manages many behind-the-scenes efforts at BCNC, and even sneaks in time to hang with the bats. He is currently a biology technician with Copperhead Consulting and is hoping to pursue a PhD with a particular interest in the cross-section of physics and biology in the field of biomechanics. He is excited to see the BCNC community grow.

Our Board

2024
Louie Deaton, Chip Denton (President), Bobbie Laminack, Thomas Peters, Tiffany Shahheydari, Chris Zelski

Join the Team

We have a small staff at Bear Creek Nature Center, and rely on the many volunteers and community members that help to serve our mission of local wildlife and environmental education. There are many ways for people to connect through service projects, event and community partnerships, volunteer and internship opportunities, and more. Check out some of the ways that our community members get involved below! Everyone can contribute in their way!