Over the past two years, I have built out advocacy campaigns, organized rallies, testified at New York City Council, worked with elected officials, and engaged thousands of New Yorkers in taking action for wild birds. I am most proud of my work with Dustin Partridge, PhD—NYC Audubon’s Director of Conservation and Science—to research and write a guidance memo on drone light shows for the Mayor’s Office, which will soon be drafted into city-wide legislation to protect birds and people from the harmful effects of artificial light at night. I have also developed, coordinated, and conducted nature—and conservation—related programming for children and families on Governors Island and developed the analytical groundwork with which to measure progress as NYC Audubon continues developing bird outings and programming that engage the whole city and reflect the organization’s commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility. 

With the development of experience and knowledge from the Fellowship, I acquired research assistantships with faculty from Rutgers University and Colorado State University to better understand the formation of hemispheric approaches to shorebird conservation, which will result in at least one published academic paper, a conference presentation in Canada, and a research trip to observe shorebird migration—and the people who study it—at the Delaware Bay this May. And, after a long and tasking application process, I am thrilled and honored to begin my PhD in Environmental Psychology at The Graduate Center at CUNY this fall. I plan to study the political ecology of queer cruising geographies in New York City as habitat for wild birds and sites of contestation between people and institutions/agencies. I will also continue to work at NYC Audubon part-time in a new role mainly devoted to advocacy.

My experience as an FAO Schwarz Fellow and a member of the team at NYC Audubon has been nothing short of life-changing. I’m looking forward to seeing the ways in which this experience continues to guide me in my career.