Two women are headed to the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center soon to teach people all about birds and the people who have studied them.

Lynn E. Barber will be at the Ruby Rupner Auditorium from 7 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014.

In 2008, Lynn Barber’s passion for birding led her to travel to 25 states and three provinces. Traveling more than 175,000 miles, she set a 21st century record at the time and was second to only one other person in history.

Barber will present the story of her yearlong quest to record and observe North American birds and their habitats. She will provide a binoculars’-eye view of one of the pastimes of nature lovers. This is a free program and open to the public.

Sue Leaf will be at the Ruby Rupner Auditorium from 7 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 18 for a program on her latest book.

Leaf is a Minnesota naturalist, biologist and author of three books. Her latest book, “A Love Affair with Birds: The Life of Thomas Sadler Roberts,” was a finalist for the 2014 Minnesota Book Awards. Leaf’s program will highlight her book about Dr. Thomas S. Roberts, a Minneapolis physician, who was a pioneer in ornithology in Minnesota.

Keeping detailed records from the 1870s, Roberts was also in the forefront of wildlife photography and environmental education. His two great gifts to his beloved state are the two-volume “The Birds of Minnesota,” and the “Bell Museum of Natural History,” which he guided to its present form as director from 1915 to 1946. Come learn about his life pursuing his passion of birds. Sue Leaf writes from her home in Center City on the shore of Pioneer Lake.

The program is free and open to the public. Please RSVP by calling 507-437-7519 or emailing info@hormelnaturecenter.org by Nov. 17.