Wilhelmina Euphemia Finch Institute for Natural Discovery

For the child who
can't stop asking why.

FOCUS is an afterschool program for children who are endlessly curious about the natural world - the ones who read past bedtime, share facts nobody asked for, and find ordinary life not quite extraordinary enough.

Discover FOCUS
The Program

There's a fellowship for that child.

FOCUS - the Fellowship of Obsessively Curious Unapologetic Scholars - brings curious children together around the natural world's most extraordinary species. Not the ones they already know. The ones nobody has heard of.

Powered by the Wilhelmina Euphemia Finch Institute for Natural Discovery, FOCUS gives that child something they've been looking for - a community of minds that finds the world endlessly fascinating, and refuses to keep it to themselves.

Learn about FOCUS
W.E.F.I.N.D. starter pack - natural wood collection box open showing species trading cards, Field Kit tin, and welcome card
150
Extraordinary species in the W.E.F.I.N.D. archive
90
Minutes per FOCUS session - never long enough
4
Elementary schools in the pilot district
Who This Is For

You know this child.

They correct nature documentaries. They come home from school with facts nobody asked for and can't understand why everyone isn't as amazed as they are. They read three books at once and remember everything. They ask the fourth question when everyone else stopped at the first.

They're not difficult. They're not too much. They just need a place where that kind of mind is the whole point.

"It is not by accident that this letter has found you. We are looking for something specific - the child who cannot help themselves."

Find out more
From the Archive

Real species. Real science.
Real astonishment.

Every card in the W.E.F.I.N.D. collection features a real, documented species - chosen because it is extraordinary, unknown, and impossible to forget once encountered.

Rainbow Dung Beetle
Rainbow Dung Beetle
Scarabaeus satyrus
Bombardier Beetle
Bombardier Beetle
Brachinus crepitans
Peacock Mantis Shrimp
Peacock Mantis Shrimp
Odontodactylus scyllarus
Explore the Archive
The Institute

Meet the field naturalists.

From the Tubbataha Reef to the Arctic Station, W.E.F.I.N.D.'s specialists document the world's most astonishing species from every corner of the Earth.

Dr. A. Cienfuegos
Dr. A. Cienfuegos
Cenote Station, Yucatan
Dr. L. Bautista
Dr. L. Bautista
Marine Station, Tubbataha
Dr. H. Walker
Dr. H. Walker
Pacific Station, Aotearoa
Dr. Y. Al-Rashidi
Dr. Y. Al-Rashidi
Desert Station
Meet All Fellows
Stay Connected

Stay curious.
Stay connected.

W.E.F.I.N.D. is currently in pilot development. Sign up to follow our progress and be first to hear about enrollment openings.

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