For some people, a turning point in their lives occurs through a dramatic turn of events. But for Susan Long, R.N., a veterinary technician in the Companion Animal Hospital who just returned from three weeks volunteering for the Audubon Society’s Puffin Project in Maine, it occurred during a casual walk in the woods she thought would be 20 minutes long.

“My backyard is Sapsucker Woods and about four years ago, I went on a hike with a friend who is a botanist, biologist and teacher,” says Long, a trim and petite grandmother with a stream of waist-long brownish-gray hair pulled back in a simple ponytail. “He got me so involved in all the nature around us that we walked for hours. Ever since then, I’ve been an ornithology fanatic and have been wanting to learn all I can about birds, habitats, nests, songs, mushrooms, trees, wildflowers, ferns, duckweed – anything, everything that's out there!”

Always interested in biology, Long earned a nursing degree years ago and worked as a pediatric nurse for physically impaired children, a private duty nurse, and in a summer camp and college infirmary while raising her three children. Twenty years ago, at the age of 38, she joined the staff of the Cornell’s Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital as a registered nurse working in anesthesiology in the large animal clinic. About thirteen years ago, however, she decided she wanted to work with awake animals as well, so she earned a veterinary technician license and transferred to the small animal clinic.

Today, as a veterinary technical supervisor, Long assists third- and fourth-year veterinary students through their clinical rotations in the Community Practice Service (CPS) in the Companion Animal Hospital. The students’ work in the CPS is designed to simulate the job of a working veterinarian. Long helps the students complete medical work-ups on cats, dogs, pet birds, and wildlife, teaching them to draw blood, perform minor surgical procedures, and helping them educate pet owners on animal nutrition and housing, flea control, rabies, and vaccinations. Her job is to play a major role at the beginning of the students’ tenure in the clinic and gradually withdraw as they gain confidence and skill.

When her interest in animals took flight several years ago, Long enrolled in Cornell’s Field Ornithology Course taught every spring by Steve Kress, a research biologist with the National Audubon Society and Cornell who founded and runs the Puffin Project in Maine. Ever since, Long has taken the course each spring and plans to continue doing so indefinitely.

“You can see 300 species of birds in Ithaca between March and May during spring migration. On field trips throughout the course, we start hiking in the snow with the ducks and end up in the sun. Now I go birding whenever I can and have given up my weekend private duty nursing to do so,” says Long, who typically wears binoculars whenever she’s outside, except on her daily 5:30 a.m. jog. “I do it because I really love the earth, the flowers, the trees, the plants – all of it. I started with birding but ended up falling in love with the planet.”

As soon as Long learned about the Puffin Project, officially known as the Seabird Restoration Program of the National Audubon Society, she signed up to volunteer. The project is dedicated to protecting and fostering the number of nesting birds on the islands of Penobscot Bay, Maine, which used to be one of the largest puffin colonies on the coast of Maine. Hunting in the late 1800s, however, decimated the puffin colonies and those of other birds, such as roseate terns and northern gannets. By the turn of the century, all species of birds had disappeared from the area.

The restoration project involves staffing six islands off the coast of Maine from mid-May through mid-August to translocate puffin chicks and attract back other species, protect nests from seagulls, tourists and other predators, and to learn as much as possible about the birds and their habitats.

For three weeks this past spring, Long camped on Stratton Island with a supervisor and two interns. Their job was to protect the terns, particularly the roseate terns, which are an endangered species. The only humans on the island, which lies a mile and a half off the coast, the four took turns “doing everything.” That included cooking in the shed kitchen, crawling into “blinds” or sheds for one to three hour shifts to observe the birds, count nests and birds, log what the birds were doing and eating, and determine what birds were visiting.  They also scared away encroaching gulls and herons and educated visiting tourists about the restoration project and why it is important.

“We’re there to do whatever we can to protect the nests of all the terns because you need large tern colonies to encourage roseate terns to nest. And it works. In 1985, there were no terns on Stratton Island; three years ago there were 119 tern nests and this year there are 706 including ten roseate tern nests!” exclaimed Long. She spotted 70 different species during her stay and plans to save enough vacation time to return to the Puffin Project next year for a six-week stay.

This year, Long’s commitment to animals is extending to the wild and to the deep. She’s taking an exam to get certified as a wildlife rehabilitator this winter so she can care for wild animals and birds at home (where she has two roommates, four cats, and a 100-pound Fila Braseliero dog – a gift from a grateful hospital client – to fill her five bedroom home now that her children have flown the coop). She also plans to work on her scuba certification. In her free time, she hikes, camps, works on renovating her house and helps with construction on a friend’s campsite near Syracuse.

“I really believe that birds and animals have never done anything to harm the planet,” she says. “They are in balance with nature and it’s up to people to preserve their habitat. It’s very simple – if the planet isn’t viable for all our critters, it’s not viable for us.”