Three and a half years ago, naturalist and Jamestown native Mark Baldwin moved to the shores of Malaren, Sweden’s third-largest freshwater lake, near Stockholm, Sweden.

He has been exploring the forests and fields of the area ever since.

On Friday, Jan. 8, from 11 a.m. to noon, Baldwin will share stories and lessons in natural history from his Swedish journey, taking those taking part on a virtual tour of “The Nature of Sweden,” a First Friday presentation of Audubon Community Nature Center.

Baldwin spent his early years and most of his career in Jamestown. He now teaches science in an urban middle school and spends as much time as possible with his wife Ardy and their family, enjoying the forest near their home.

With a bachelor’s degree in biology and secondary education from the State University at Fredonia and Master of Science in Teaching from Antioch University, he taught middle school and high school science in Alaska, Vermont and New York.

For more than 25 years, Baldwin was an educator and naturalist at Jamestown’s Roger Tory Peterson Institute, where he worked with teachers throughout the country to create place-based methods of teaching and learning with a focus on the outdoors and the natural world. In 2014, he received the ACNC Chairman’s Award for exemplary service in nature education.

The fee for this opportunity is $8 or $6 for Nature Center members.

The program will be hosted online on Zoom. Register up to an hour before the program by going to AudubonCNC.org and clicking on “Register for a Program.” Those who register will be sent a Zoom meeting code.

For more information on Zoom, go to theverge.com/2020/3/31/21197215/how-to-zoom-free-account-get-started-register-sign-up-log-in-invite to learn how to sign up.

The Audubon Community Nature Center is located at 1600 Riverside Road, one-quarter mile east of Route 62 between Jamestown and Warren. The first floor of the Nature Center building, including the Blue Heron Gift Shop, live animals, and the 2020 Nature Photography Contest winning photographs, is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Because not all of the building is accessible, admission is by donation only.

Visitors are welcome to visit the 600-acre nature preserve from dawn to dusk daily. While practicing safe social distancing measures, view the grounds and six miles of trails, and view Liberty, Audubon’s non-releasable Bald Eagle.

To learn more about Audubon and its programs, call 569-2345, visit AudubonCNC.org, or find Audubon Community Nature Center on Facebook.