Theo Ostman-Sofocli and Yonatan Axelrad are seventh graders living outside Hartford, Connecticut. They are enthusiastic naturalists and volunteer at Roaring Brook Nature Center, where they feed the turtles and create short educational videos in a series called “Young Naturalists in Action.” Theo and Yonatan co-authored a book on earthworms, which they printed and donated to local libraries, and are now working on a new project about the frog and toad species of Connecticut.
Where are you from and where do you go to school?
Theo: I’m from Avon, Connecticut. I grew up here. We’re both in seventh grade and we homeschool with Yonatan’s mom (Estee Axelrad) – she’s our teacher. We went to the same school before switching to homeschool.
Yonatan: Yeah, we’ve known each other since we were around 6. There was a time we didn’t really see each other that much because I started homeschooling, but then Theo joined a few years ago. I live in Bloomfield, but I’m originally from Israel. We moved here when I was 3, and we try to visit Israel every year.
Where do you like to spend time outside?
Yonatan: Everywhere. It’s really cool being in nature and looking under logs and trying to find cool animals there. I think I just naturally really like nature. It’s fun and exciting to look for wildlife.
Theo: I like going…well, anywhere. We go to a lot of ponds to look for frogs and turtles, but I like going anywhere, really. I probably started really liking that when I first came to Roaring Brook Nature Center. We first came a long time ago, I don’t remember when.
How did you get involved with Roaring Brook Nature Center, and what do you do there?
Yonatan: My mom started volunteering there when I was really little, and a few years ago Theo and I joined and got into it. We started by cutting up salads and stuff for the turtles. It got us into taking care of them. I just love it. Mr. Jay Kaplan (now director emeritus) is a naturalist who knows about everything and is also very practical. He lives near the nature center and he’s been there for decades. One of the things he always says on hikes is to watch out for “toe grabbers” – rocks and roots that you can trip over. It sounds funny, but it’s important!
Theo: We go every two weeks to feed all the turtles. I love all the turtles, but Zeus is my favorite. He’s an eastern box turtle, and he’s almost 90 years old. I love his super long neck and how friendly he is. I know him so well, I would probably recognize him out of 100 turtles.
Yonatan: Yeah, and sometimes we come if there’s an emergency. Like, if we find an injured animal. The nature center has a clinic where they rehabilitate and then release animals that are hurt.
Theo: Recently we found a turtle with a fishing hook stuck in its mouth, so we brought it to the nature center. The hook kind of fell out while we were on the way, but Mr. Liam Shortt, the wildlife clinic manager, said it was good we brought him in, because that way he can make sure it heals and there’s no infection or anything. The turtle got antibiotics and after a few days he was released back where we found him.
Theo: Liam releases animals after they’ve healed and can live in the wild. The nature center has an enclosed pond outside too, and there are aquatic turtles that live there that can’t be released for different reasons. The other resident turtles (that can’t be released) live indoors.
Yonatan: There’s also other wildlife at the center, like snakes, frogs, and insects. But our main thing is definitely taking care of the turtles.
Can you tell me about the nature videos you make for Roaring Brook? How do you get ideas for them?
Theo: Yeah, we make videos for them sometimes. Back in March (2025), we had the idea of making a video about what was happening in nature, and Mrs. Kim Read, the director of the nature center, thought it was a great idea. We try to come up with ideas based on the time of year and what we’ll find outside.
Yonatan: Once we have a topic, we go out and try to find examples (like jewelweed or red-backed salamanders). Once we’ve found a few, we film an intro, then a few more parts where we talk about fun facts for the topic and provide details so that people can find it and know about it. Usually, we know about the topic from our general knowledge. But, if we don’t, we’ll do some research before we start.
What is your favorite video you’ve made, and what do you like most about creating the videos?
Theo: I think the “Turtle Time” video is my favorite, because we really like turtles. What I enjoy about making the videos is that we get to talk about all different species and give people a peek into the secrets of the natural world to make them appreciate it more.
Yonatan: My favorite video is “Almost Summer Edition,” because we had a lot of fun filming it, and it was really cool to see tadpoles and turtles in one video. My favorite part about making videos is spending time together with Theo and letting people know more about the natural world in a fun way.
You’ve worked on some books together, right? Can you tell me what those are about?
Yonatan: Well, first, a few years ago I wrote a book about tardigrades because I was really interested in them. And then Theo and I got into earthworms, I guess basically because of the nature center again, because we would feed them to all the turtles. Then we realized how cool earthworms are – like they can play dead and drop their tail off when there’s danger. We were supposed to do an animal research project, and I had experience from writing about tardigrades, so I asked Theo if he was interested in writing about earthworms and he agreed.
Theo: We worked on the earthworm book in sixth grade. It took us a year and half to write it – it was a long time. We did all the drawings and illustrations in it, including diagrams.
And now you’re working on a new topic, is that right?
Theo: I’m working on an educational poster about the frogs and toads of Connecticut, and Yonatan is working on a book about them. We’ll give them out to libraries and nature centers when we finish. We’ll have them at Roaring Brook Nature Center and probably other places too.
Do you have a favorite frog species?
Yonatan: Yeah, the northern green frog. It wasn’t because of researching them, though. It was actually because a couple years ago during recess we saw this frog. I was just in love with him. We decided to name him Steve – Steve the Frog. We came back every day to see him.
Theo: I guess that’s why we started working on the project – mostly because of Steve. He got used to us and he was really chill. We loved that we could feed him earthworms without him being scared.
Yonatan: I probably didn’t know he was a northern green frog at first. We looked it up, I think. I don’t think I knew much about frogs back then. But we started observing and noticing and learning, and we both know so much more now, which is cool.
When you’re working on these books and posters, how do you learn more about your subject?
Theo: We do a lot of researching online. We find some good websites that are written by scientists or universities. In this case, we’re also reading from herpetology websites.
Yonatan: And we talk to experts – people who study those things professionally. Like for earthworms – wait, there’s a word for it – it’s called oligochaetology. When we were writing the book about earthworms, we wrote to oligochaetologists, soil scientists, and even the owner of a compost company. We try to find all kinds of professionals to talk to. For the book and poster we’re working on now, we talked with Brian Kleinman, who owns Riverside Reptiles in Enfield, Connecticut.
Theo: Riverside Reptiles is kind of like a nature center. We went and talked to Brian about amphibians and reptiles, and he knows a lot.
Yonatan: And we also met Dennis Quinn a few times. He’s a herpetologist and ecologist who studies the amphibians and reptiles of Connecticut, and he owns a consultation company called Quinn Ecological, LLC that does surveys and assessments. He gave us a ton of information about the reptiles and amphibians of Connecticut and where to find them, and he took us out to do field work with him. On one trip, we found two box turtles, a copperhead snake (which is venomous), a watersnake, a spring peeper, a wood frog, and many green frogs. Dennis knows so much, and he doesn’t miss anything. He just pulled those snakes out of nowhere and spotted the turtles that we would have walked right by without noticing.
What else are you enjoying in school right now?
Yonatan: Oh, a lot of different things. We’re learning about the American Revolution. And about biogeography and how islands form and how life develops on them. We’re also doing a lot of math right now, but it’s mostly hands-on activities. I like physics and science best. And being out in nature.
Theo: I like geography best. I already know all the countries and flags of the world, and I’m trying to learn all the capitals right now.
Yonatan: Yeah, Theo, you’re a pro at geography.
Theo: We go on fun field trips too, like to Mystic Aquarium, the Connecticut Science Center, and of course, Roaring Brook Nature Center.
What else do you like to do?
Yonatan: I play chess and tennis. Theo plays tennis too.
Theo: A little bit. We like looking for animals outside. We go ice skating – we both kind of know how to. We’re not very good yet, but we go.
Yonatan: We also just got a foster turtle. His name is Scoot – I thought it was a cute name.
Theo: He’s so small right now, so it’s good to keep him away from the other bigger turtles. He was born in nature but is invasive here, so we’re fostering him now, and he’s going to live at Riverside Reptiles when he’s big enough.
Do you think about what you might want to study or what kind of work you might want to do when you’re older?
Yonatan: I think I would like working at Roaring Brook Nature Center.
Theo: Me too. I’m not sure yet.
Yonatan: It’s far-fetched maybe, but we also talk about opening a nature center together when we’re older.
Theo: Yeah, that would be really cool.
Do you have anything you want to tell other kids your age about exploring nature?
Yonatan: It’s cool to think about how nature is amazing and all the things you can find out there – it’s just crazy. There’s so much to know and scientists haven’t even found every single species. Not even close. You can just go outside and look. Everything you find has its own backstory and why it evolved to live here, its coloration, all of that. You can find amazing things in just a tiny patch of land.
Theo: Just go outside and see what you can find. The more you look, the more you’ll find. And there’s always something new to learn. A couple of years ago I didn’t know nearly as much as I do now. So be curious and research things that interest you.