Sam Jaffe
Founder and Director
Samuel Jaffe is a New England based naturalist, photographer, and educator who has been working with native insects since a very early age. Sam grew up in Eastern Massachusetts chasing birds, mucking through ponds, and turning over leaves. For the last seven years he has been photographing caterpillars and organizing programs to promote these special creatures to the public. In 2013 he founded "The Caterpillar Lab" in Keene NH and he now travels across the country working with museums, nature centers, schools, and individual teachers helping native insects find their place in our everyday lives. When he is not behind the camera or tending his zoo of caterpillars, you can invariably find Sam up to his waist in vegetation.
Jesse Varga
Facility Manager, Store Manager, Donations Manager
Jesse has a background in biology and outdoor education, including summer camps, outdoor classrooms, natural history museums, and raptor programs. He has been with The Caterpillar Lab since its founding in 2013. Jesse is a fantastic story teller and a favorite at all of our shows. Bottom line: he loves to teach about nature!
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As the lab manager, he focuses on many of the behind-the-scenes tasks needed to make the Lab run smoothly He also runs many aspects of the store, donation management, and the day-to-day administrative needs of the lab.
Sara Burrell
Education Outreach, Program Development
Sara Burrell grew up in the Wyoming Rockies and developed an early love for all things natural science. With a background in geology, biology, and outdoor education, she was drawn to an environmental education program at Antioch University New England. Through her summer internship with The Caterpillar Lab she was able to explore new passions and interests that have launched her into a new educational pathway. She believes that caterpillars are a valuable tool to explore deeper connections with both the ecological and social communities of New England. Now a veteran of The Caterpillar Lab, Sara is a core team member, managing aspects of outreach, program development, resource development, and of course, taking care of way too many caterpillars!
Jack Forrester
Education Outreach, Research Manager
Sara Burrell grew up in the Wyoming Rockies and developed an early love for all things natural science. With a background in geology, biology, and outdoor education, she was drawn to an environmental education program at Antioch University New England. Through her summer internship with The Caterpillar Lab she was able to explore new passions and interests that have launched her into a new educational pathway. She believes that caterpillars are a valuable tool to explore deeper connections with both the ecological and social communities of New England. Now a veteran of The Caterpillar Lab, Sara is a core team member, managing aspects of outreach, program development, resource development, and of course, taking care of way too many caterpillars!
Bridget Burns
Education Outreach, Research Manager
Bridget Burns brings hands-on animal care experience and is dedicated to the conservation of wildlife and their habitats. While earning her Bachelor’s degree in Captive Wildlife Care and Education at Unity College in Maine, she volunteered and interned at several wildlife refuges, nature centers, zoos, and animal rehabilitation facilities.
After working for a time as a zookeeper for Ross Park Zoo in New York, she moved to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to join the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center (GWDC), becoming Lead Keeper and a founding member of the conservation and research team as well as liaison for GWDC’s Zoo-Park Partnership with Yellowstone National Park. After moving back to the east coast, she continued to serve as GWDC’s Conservation Coordinator part-time and helped in the founding and running the Wildlife Restoration Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on the restoration of North American flora and fauna, for the past 4 years. Settling down in Keene, she found her way to the Caterpillar Lab, where she is able to dive into her interest and appreciation for the big, tiny world of insects!
