Environmental Champion

Biologist Erick Greene has been taking blood samples from Osprey chicks in northwest Montana for years. Ospreys eat fish, so toxins in the water become concentrated in their bodies. Their blood offers a window into how pollution moves through the food chain. Finding high mercury levels in

Christopher Joe has invited people to witness the aerial acrobatics of Swallow-tailed Kites on his family’s farm in the Black Belt region of Alabama. The kites swoop after insects stirred up by hay-cutting. Christopher says he intends for Joe Farms to be a place where Black people, and all

The writer Paul Bowles said, “Nothing just happens. It depends on who comes along.” For the Audubon Society in Washington State, that “who” was Hazel Wolf. She was a labor activist, environmental campaigner, and life-long champion of causes she believed in. From 1969 until 1997, Hazel Wolf

If you’re a biologist and you want to save habitat for birds such as this Savannah Sparrow, how do you do it? You talk to people, says Ros Renfrew of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies. And you listen. Ros meets with landowners in Vermont, New Hampshire, and across New England. “We might

American naturalist Bruce Beehler — inspired by Edwin Way Teale's similar journey in 1947 — is following the spring songbird migration to build greater appreciation for birds. In partnership with American Bird Conservancy, Beehler is traveling from the Gulf of Mexico to the boreal forest

Lester Franklin is a student in coastal Maryland. He's also a writer and a coastal steward, working to encourage people of color to get involved with birds, conservation, and the environment. For Lester, becoming more aware of nature was a step-by-step process that started with peaceful

Scott Comings spent a lot of time on Block Island when he was growing up in Rhode Island. Today, as the associate state director of the Rhode Island chapter of the Nature Conservancy, Scott works to protect birds and nature — including the habitat on Block Island. BirdNote asked Scott if

Over the years, BirdNote has paid tribute to people who improve the lives of birds. We find inspiration in the efforts of stewards such as Jim Brown, who’s preserving important habitat for birds such as this Lewis's Woodpecker, along the Clark Fork River in Montana. In downtown Chicago

Carolyn Ohl-Johnson found a home — and a way of life — near Big Bend National Park. BirdNote contributor Alex Chadwick visited Carolyn at the desert oasis she created for birds such as this Rivoli's Hummingbird. But her accomplishment has required tremendous sacrifice. “I haven’t seen my

George Archibald, co-founder of the International Crane Foundation, says, “The most significant things in the world happen because of the actions of a few people, whether it’s in research, politics or conservation.” Archibald is heartened by the new generation of conservationists -- like