Tiburon Girl Scout builds owl boxes to earn Gold Award

Girl Scout Lauren Somerville of Tiburon installed one of her owl boxes at her former school, Strawberry Point Elementary, before the start of the school year. (Sydney Goh)

A Tiburon teen’s Girl Scout Gold Award project aims to educate local residents about the environmental benefits of owls and the dangers rat poisons pose to the food chain.

Marin Catholic High School senior Lauren Somerville spent the summer building four wood boxes for screech owls, attaching one each on trees at the Richardson Bay Audubon Center and Sanctuary in Tiburon and her former elementary school, Strawberry Point, and two at her high school. The boxes provide a safe place for screech owls to nest and roost.

The goal of the project, which will help her earn the highest Girl Scouts award, is to attract more owls to the area, which in turn serves as a natural rodent-control method.

“I’m really passionate about environmentalism and raising awareness about all of these things,” says Lauren, 17, calling owl boxes an “easy thing that you can make an impact with.”

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