Kids aren’t the only ones who want to learn more about the natural world that surrounds us; adults are curious, too. That was the seed idea behind the “Connecting with Nature” series at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History.

“During the summertime and all through the year, we offer a lot of programs for kids, and that is great, and those programs are really successful," Kristen Van Kleysaid, the museum's education manager. "But we did want to start offering more opportunities for adults to continue learning about natural history, and already from the first class, we are seeing adults are really interested and want to be involved.”

The expansion is part of the vision of Dan Harder, the popular botanist who is the museum's director. He was laid off from the Arboretum in 2009 in a round of budget cuts. The 105-year-old museum is operating under a new 20-year contract with the city, and the nonprofit board hired Harder, 50, who was enjoying retirement.

The natural history museum sees 17,000 visitors a year, including many school groups on field trips.

The initial classes at the little yellow building by Seabright beach let visitors get under the skin of local animals and study their bones, concentrate on the peregrine falcon’s success story and  go back a thousand years to when the Ohlone Indians lived an abundant life in Santa Cruz.

All the classes are limited to 30 people and cost $8 for members of the museum and $10 for everybody else.  They start at 10 a.m. on the next three Saturdays in February.

Register at santacruzmuseums.org/program_request.htm.

Registration is required except for Saturday's "Peregrine Falcon" class, which will be filled  on a first-come, first-served basis the morning of the class.

Santa Cruz is full of experts who devote their lives to studying a particular corner of the natural world, and the museum connects interested people with some of these passionate communicators.

Frank Perry is the guest curator of the current “Bones” exhibit. He led a “Behind the Bones” class last Saturday. A paleontologist, he shared stories about the fragile frog skeletons and the gigantic whale skull.

This coming Saturday, Glenn R. Stewart, director of the UC Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group, will bring the inspiring tale of how peregrine falcons have been brought back from the brink of extinction through conservation efforts.

He will likely be accompanied by a tame falcon and a slide show that will illustrate how these birds are being saved.  

Mark Hylkema, who speaks Feb. 19,  will take visitors back 200 years to show them how the area's original residents—the Ohlones—slept, ate and worked.  He is the Santa Cruz district archaeologist for California State Parks and manages the cultural resources of 32 parks from San Francisco to the Pajaro River.

He teaches docents about the Ohlones, and they share their knowledge with children who visit on field trips.

The first class of the series was a trip to the Santa Cruz sand hills with ecologist Jodi McGraw. It was such a huge success that another trip will be scheduled for the spring to enjoy the wildflowers.

For more information, check the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History’s website.

The museum is at 1305 East Cliff Dr.