Birds, Careers and Conservation Workshop Summer 2016

August 9th – August 10th, 2016
Ithaca, NY, United States

Thanks to support from Thomas Cade Funds, on August 9 and 10, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology hosted a group of youth and their chaperones from Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Montana, Puerto Rico and South Dakota for our Birds, Careers and Conservation Workshop. During the two-day workshop the students participated in activities focused on bird banding, the Macaulay Library, bioacoustics, conservation science, citizen science, the arts, and the Museum of Vertebrates. At the workshop students met with top-notch scientists who shared with them their latest work. Students had the opportunity to ask questions and experience many hands-on activities. In addition, students and chaperones visited the Cornell campus including the College of Engineering, and Akwe:kon, the university’s only residence hall established specifically to celebrate American Indian culture and heritage.

The workshop exceeded the expectations of the participants “I loved it every time even more… each part of the workshop woke up in me the desire to discover new things, to move to action, to dream, but with the certainty that those dreams and plans (for the future) can become true,” said one of the participants. “…it has been one of the most enlightening and inspiring experiences that I have ever had. Thank you for this opportunity!”

Another participant stated, “My favorite part is the link between the community and science education, since I feel very inspired by the work of the scientists. I think that the more educated the communities become, the better results we will see in terms of biodiversity conservation.”

One of the highlights of the workshop was a night walk on Sapsucker Woods’ trails. “Never thought to do a night walk in the woods, so cool!”

Celebrate Urban Birds youth workshops are designed to offer students from underserved communities a chance to learn more about career opportunities in the sciences. In addition the workshops prepare students to take on more active roles in leading stewardship projects back home.

Celebrate Urban Birds workshops would not be possible without the help of staff from every department of the Cornell Lab.

We are enormously thankful to all participants, chaperones, and presenters.

We are looking forward to our next Birds, Careers and Conservation Workshop in 2017!

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