Photo by Tim Daniel.
On Saturday, November, 3, 2012, Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm, located near Dayton, Ohio, will host the 6th Annual Ohio Young Birders Club Conference. Highlights will include student presentations, songbird banding demonstrations, field trips, live birds of prey from Raptor Inc., Prothonotary Warbler nest box construction, and a bird identification quiz by noted author Kenn Kaufman.
The keynote speaker will be 18-year-old Benjamin Van Doren from White Plains, NY. Benjamin will present on nocturnal migration and morning flight.
Benjamin Van Doren, keynote speaker.
Benjamin is a freshman at Cornell University, and a former president of the New York State Young Birders Club. He has volunteered for the Seabird Restoration Program in Maine, and contributed articles to the journal “North American Birds” and to “Birding” magazine. His research on the phenomenon of morning flight won him fifth place at this year’s national Intel Science Talent Search in Washington, D.C.
Some of Ohio’s own inspiring teenagers will also be giving presentations. Kristina Polk will present on how birding can lead to conservation, and Kayla Parry will discuss her experiences of being a young birder. Kathleen Seeley will present on the coastal seabirds that she observed at the Hog Island Audubon Camp. Doug Whitman will discuss how a birder is always observing even when not birding. Finally, Dakota Outcalt will present on how citizen science helps birds.
Additionally, three students will assist world-renowned author Kenn Kaufman with his ever-entertaining Bird Identification Quiz. Kenn’s ID helpers include Trevor Zook, Ethan Rising, and Nathan Martineau.
And keeping the conference on track will be the Master of Ceremony, Jacob Stinnett.
This year’s special guest speaker will be Hope Batcheller, who is a student at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Hope was the keynote speaker at the 2008 OYBC conference, and will be discussing research, college, and career opportunities for young birders.
The event costs $10 for students (ages 18 and under) and $20 for adults. Registration includes lunch and access to all the field trips and presentations.
This event is open to the public, and non-members of all ages are welcome.
Though adults who attend will learn a great deal and develop a renewed sense of hope for the future of conservation, the real power in these talks is for the attending youth to see their peers in action. Well over 100 people attend the OYBC Conference each year, and the message endures long after the conference has ended.
For more information and to register, visit http://ohioyoungbirders.org or call 419-898-4070.
The Ohio Young Birders Club (OYBC) was founded by the Black Swamp Bird Observatory. The OYBC is a ground-breaking club that puts youth in charge.
