Field Biologist

A young animal lover shares both his knowledge and enthusiasm in filmmaker Jared Flesher's engaging documentary portrait. Tyler Christensen is an open-faced 22-year-old from New Jersey who works as a nature educator at a local park. Tyler, who says he inherited his love of animals from his father (who died of leukemia two years before filming), also sews, plays guitar, speaks Spanish, and enjoys rock climbing (he also contributed to the film's score and camera work). Although he never attended college, Tyler's life resembles that of a zoological undergraduate, with Flesher tagging along as Tyler explores the ornithological collection at Princeton and embarks on his second birding trip to Costa Rica, a self-financed expedition (made a bit more affordable by the fact that his mother owns property in the country). “I know a lot of people think I'm strange,” he says, adding that “it's difficult to find people who share my love of nature.” Nonetheless, he convinces a friend and three volunteers to join him in banding birds for research purposes. By identifying declining species, Tyler hopes to contribute to conservation efforts. If anything, Tyler comes across more as an autodidact than an oddball; since barely graduating from high school, he appears to have accomplished more on his own than as part of a structured academic curriculum. But by film's end, Tyler warms up to the idea of college, in part because he realizes that he can make more of a difference with a degree. An amiable profile that incorporates numerous gorgeous close-ups of hummingbirds, katydids, leafcutter ants, and other creatures, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)