Festivals, Art and Community: Possible Paths for Conservation

Mirna Borrego Lazalde is an outdoor educator. Since 2017, she has been developing experiences and educational programs that promote the contemplation, understanding and conservation of the natural beauty of Baja California and the nature reserves protected by the non-profit organization Terra Peninsular. She coordinates the San Quintin Bay Shorebird Festival which has won the 2020 Partners in Flight Awards for the Festival Community Model Design. In 2018 she participated with the U.S. Forest Service as a part of the Wildlife internship program in Cordova Alaska.

¨If there is something that I wish to leave behind, it is the traces of a deep love and respect for nature¨

PRESENTATION INFORMATION

Among wetlands, coastal scrub, and volcanoes, there is a particular community, a place where bird migration is celebrated, art supports land management, and curiosity is awakening. For many, the bird festival and the art exhibits provide the first approach to knowledge, the first contact with the conservation work done by Terra Peninsular, and an opportunity to live a comprehensive, collaborative, and memorable community experience.

Virtual. Included in Paid Festival Registration.

About the Presenter: Lisa Schibley joined the Shorebird Recovery Program at Manomet in 2008 and is currently the North American coordinator for the International Shorebird Survey, recruiting and engaging ISS volunteers and finding creative ways to tell shorebird stories using ISS data. Lisa holds an M.S. in Physics from the University of Arizona, and her background is in numerical analysis. As an enthusiastic birder living in Arizona, she coordinated the Tucson Christmas Bird Count and led field trips for the Tucson Audubon Society. She currently leads trips for the South Shore Bird Club.

About the talk: The International Shorebird Survey, founded in 1974 by Brian Harrington at Manomet, brings together two fundamentally powerful ideas. First, to know where conservation is needed and if initiatives have been effective, shorebird scientists need a broad understanding of species populations and trends. And secondly, a dedicated and enthusiastic group of shorebirders across the Western Hemisphere could supply shorebird scientists and conservation partners the data they need to make a difference. Lisa will talk about how ISS fits into Manomet's work with shorebirds, some of its interesting history, how Manomet has successfully expanded the project into South and Central America, what results scientists have gleaned from the data, and how shorebird enthusiasts can contribute data.