About Nature in Mind
I’m Alex Harper, an ecologist, birding guide, and interpretive naturalist who helps people better understand the natural world—and find their place in protecting it.
Nature in Mind brings together bird ecology, conservation, environmental education, and field interpretation to help people build knowledge, develop practical skills, and discover meaningful ways to participate in conservation.
I believe that when we learn to pay closer attention to nature, our minds change. We begin to notice relationships, recognize what is at stake, and better understand the role we can play in the places around us.
What I Offer
Online Education
Accessible courses and learning experiences designed to deepen your understanding of birds, ecology, and conservation. I help you put that knowledge into practice.
Programs combine natural history with practical skills, real-world conservation examples, and opportunities to connect what you learn to the places and communities around you. Join my online community on Skool.
Guided Birding & Nature Experiences
Small-group birding and natural history experiences built around observation, curiosity, and understanding place.
Rather than simply identifying what we see, we explore the relationships that shape an ecosystem: how species use the landscape, what changes through the seasons, and the conservation stories emerging around us.
Speaking, Workshops, and Professional Trainings
Engaging talks, field workshops, and multi-day trainings for birders, naturalists, field professionals, conservation organizations, and community groups.
Topics range from bird identification, ecology, and field monitoring techniques to interpretation, conservation engagement, and leadership development.
Multi-day intensive workshops are among my favorite ways to teach: they give participants time to practice skills in the field, ask questions, receive feedback, and leave better prepared to apply what they have learned.
Conservation Education & Consulting
Nature in Mind can help organizations develop training programs, prepare volunteers and trip leaders, create educational resources, design meaningful conservation experiences, and build clearer pathways for people to move from interest to participation.
The goal is not simply to reach more people, but to help organizations turn curiosity and concern into knowledge, confidence, leadership, and meaningful conservation action.