World-traveling bird expert lands back home in Highland to tell of his journeys
Highland native Nic Korte, an expert in tropical birds, will return home next week and give two lectures, one in front of the Highland Rotary Club and the other at Louis Latzer Memorial Library.
“I’m excited about returning to my hometown and talking about subjects that I’m passionate about,” Korte said.
Korte is presenting a program at the library auditorium on Tuesday, Oct. 3 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The program is entitled: “What I have learned from tropical birds: There are no boundaries for wildlife.” He will also present to the Highland Rotary Club when it gathers for its noon meeting on Tuesday at Michael’s Restaurant.
Korte graduated from St. Paul High School in Highland before earning a degree in chemistry from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. He then moved on to the University of Arizona in Tucson for graduate school and pursued a career in geochemistry. He has published one technical book and more than 50 peer-reviewed research articles.
A 40-year resident of Grand Junction, Colo., Korte’s interest in wildlife began as a young hunter in the Highland area, focusing on doves, quail and squirrels. Before long, wildlife observation and conservation became his twin obsessions.
His volunteer work in the conservation community culminated in his being recipient the Richard G. Levad Award, a statewide award in Colorado that recognizes individuals who “have provided distinguished service to the ornithological community, made scholarly contributions to the field of ornithology and/or have enthused others about conserving birds and their habitats.”
Korte has journeyed to the American tropics (Mexico, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Panama) more than 30 times and has personally documented sightings of nearly 2,000 species of birds. He has also amassed many photographs of exotic species and locales.
This story was originally published September 29, 2017 at 11:42 AM with the headline "World-traveling bird expert lands back home in Highland to tell of his journeys."