Nashville Warbler. Photo by Corey Nimmer, Audubon Photography Awards.
Georgia Bird Fest Summit 2024
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Saturday, April 20, in Athens
8:30 AM to 2:00 PM, with pre-summit field trips
Location: The Classic Center, Athens, GA
Pricing:
Regular Registration, April 6 to 19: $125
Regular Student rate, April 6 to May 12: $62*
*If you are choosing the student rate, you must use student (.edu) email address to register.
Registration will close at midnight on Tuesday, April 16
This year, we’re excited to premiere a new addition to the Georgia Bird Fest lineup of event. The Georgia Bird Fest Summit will bring bird enthusiasts from across the state to share knowledge and inspiration about birds, birding, and related issues in Georgia.
Friday, April 19, 6:00 PM until...
On Friday evening, we will host an optional Meet Up at Athentic Brewing Company, 108 Park Ave, Athens, GA. Join us!
Saturday, April 20
7:00 to 8:00 AM - Participants may choose from the following optional pre-Summit Field Trips on Saturday, April 20:
Saturday, April 20, from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM
8:30 to 9:00 AM - Breakfast/opening remarks
9:00 to 10:00 AM - Keynote Address by Dr. J. Drew Lanham - Coloring the Conservation Conversation
Dr. Lanham will discuss what it means to embrace the full breadth of his African-American heritage and his deep kinship to nature and adoration of birds. The convergence of ornithologist, college professor, poet, author and conservation activist blend to bring our awareness of the natural world and our moral responsibility for it forward in new ways. Candid by nature — and because of it — Lanham will examine how conservation must be a rigorous science and evocative art, inviting diversity and race to play active roles in celebrating our natural world..
10:00 AM - Book signing with Dr. J. Drew Lanham
Note: Avid Bookshop, a local, indie book seller, will be on hand with a selection of Dr. Lanham's books available for purchase.
10:10 to 10:50 AM: Breakout Session I
11:00 to 11:40 AM: Fireside Chat with Dr Gregory Nobles (author of John James Audubon: The Story of an American Woodsman) feat. Drew Lanham
This will be a casual conversation between Dr. Nobles (facilitator) and Dr. Lanham around some hot topic issues in bird circles, including the need for inclusivity and diversity in the birding community and the necessity of the wildlife conservation movement to include diverse environmentalists as our world and population evolve.
11:50 AM to 12:50 PM: Lunch, featuring speaker Clark Rushing, Assistant Professor of Wildlife, University of Georgia Warnell College of Forestry & Wildlife
Join Dr. Rushing as we explore the fascinating world of Painted Buntings and learn how tracking their migration patterns can shed light on conservation efforts.
1:00 to 1:40 PM - Breakout Session II
1:50 to 2:10 PM: Acknowledgments/Awards Ceremony
2:20 PM - Event Ends
About our Keynote Speaker:
Dr. J. Drew Lanham, is a certified wildlife biologist, an academic, writer, artist, and public intellectual, from Edgefield and Aiken, South Carolina. He is an Alumni Distinguished Professor, Provost's Professor and Master Teacher of Wildlife Ecology at Clemson University, where his most recent scholarly efforts address the confluences of race, place and nature. A 2022 MacArthur Fellow, Dr. Lanham was also named one of the 100 most influential Black Americans by "The Root", in 2022. Creatively, Drew is the Poet Laureate of Edgefield County, South Carolina and the author of Sparrow Envy - Poems, Sparrow Envy - A Field Guide to Birds and Lesser Beasts, and The Home Place - Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature. His memoir is a past winner of the Reed Environmental Writing Award (Southern Environmental Law Center), the Southern Book Prize, and a 2017 finalist for the Burroughs Medal. It was named a memoir and scholarly book of the decade by Lithub & Chronicle of Higher Education. His forthcoming works are Joy is the Justice We Give Ourselves, The Bird I Became, and Range Maps - Birds, Blackness and Loving Nature Between the Two.
Refreshments and lunch are included in Summit registration fee.
Lodging
Birds Georgia has reserved a block of rooms on the evening of Friday, April 19 for this event at the Wingate by Wyndham Athens Near Downtown Athens, 255 North Ave, Athens, GA 30601. The room rate is $139.99/night and rooms must be reserved before March 19. Call the hotel directly at 706-707-9027 to reserve your room and mention that you are in the Birds Georgia block.
Cancellation Policy:
Please note the special cancellation policy for this event due to meal guarantee dates at the Classic Center: If you need to cancel your registration more than 10 days prior to the event (on or before April 9), we will refund the registration fee less a 20% processing fee. Cancellations nine (9) days or less (on or after April 10) prior to the event are non-refundable.. All events/classes are rain or shine unless otherwise noted. If a class or event must be cancelled because of weather or other unforeseen circumstances, registered participants will receive a full refund.
Please note that you must register for the Georgia Bird Fest Summit separately from other events.
Registration for this event is now closed.
8:30 AM to 2:00 PM, with pre-summit field trips
Location: The Classic Center, Athens, GA
Pricing:
Regular Registration, April 6 to 19: $125
Regular Student rate, April 6 to May 12: $62*
*If you are choosing the student rate, you must use student (.edu) email address to register.
Registration will close at midnight on Tuesday, April 16
This year, we’re excited to premiere a new addition to the Georgia Bird Fest lineup of event. The Georgia Bird Fest Summit will bring bird enthusiasts from across the state to share knowledge and inspiration about birds, birding, and related issues in Georgia.
Friday, April 19, 6:00 PM until...
On Friday evening, we will host an optional Meet Up at Athentic Brewing Company, 108 Park Ave, Athens, GA. Join us!
Saturday, April 20
7:00 to 8:00 AM - Participants may choose from the following optional pre-Summit Field Trips on Saturday, April 20:
- Lake Herrick, with Gabe Andrle
- State Botanical Garden, with Patrick Maurice
- Sandy Creek Nature Center, with Lauren Gingeralla
Saturday, April 20, from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM
8:30 to 9:00 AM - Breakfast/opening remarks
9:00 to 10:00 AM - Keynote Address by Dr. J. Drew Lanham - Coloring the Conservation Conversation
Dr. Lanham will discuss what it means to embrace the full breadth of his African-American heritage and his deep kinship to nature and adoration of birds. The convergence of ornithologist, college professor, poet, author and conservation activist blend to bring our awareness of the natural world and our moral responsibility for it forward in new ways. Candid by nature — and because of it — Lanham will examine how conservation must be a rigorous science and evocative art, inviting diversity and race to play active roles in celebrating our natural world..
10:00 AM - Book signing with Dr. J. Drew Lanham
Note: Avid Bookshop, a local, indie book seller, will be on hand with a selection of Dr. Lanham's books available for purchase.
10:10 to 10:50 AM: Breakout Session I
- Lights, Windows, Action: Understanding the Impact of Window Collisions and Ways to Aid Conservation: Adam Betuel, Wild Nest, and Friends
- The Health Benefits of Birding: Jack Bruce, WellBirds
- Maximize Your Bird Feeder: Roseanne Guerra
11:00 to 11:40 AM: Fireside Chat with Dr Gregory Nobles (author of John James Audubon: The Story of an American Woodsman) feat. Drew Lanham
This will be a casual conversation between Dr. Nobles (facilitator) and Dr. Lanham around some hot topic issues in bird circles, including the need for inclusivity and diversity in the birding community and the necessity of the wildlife conservation movement to include diverse environmentalists as our world and population evolve.
11:50 AM to 12:50 PM: Lunch, featuring speaker Clark Rushing, Assistant Professor of Wildlife, University of Georgia Warnell College of Forestry & Wildlife
Join Dr. Rushing as we explore the fascinating world of Painted Buntings and learn how tracking their migration patterns can shed light on conservation efforts.
1:00 to 1:40 PM - Breakout Session II
- Endangered Species Research Panel: Heather Levy and Rushing Population Ecology Lab
- Understanding Habitat/Plants for Better Birding: Gabe Andrle and Friends
- All in the Same Boat: Building Connections for Shorebird Protection: Allie Hayser, Manomet's Georgia Bight Shorebird Conservation Initiative
1:50 to 2:10 PM: Acknowledgments/Awards Ceremony
2:20 PM - Event Ends
About our Keynote Speaker:
Dr. J. Drew Lanham, is a certified wildlife biologist, an academic, writer, artist, and public intellectual, from Edgefield and Aiken, South Carolina. He is an Alumni Distinguished Professor, Provost's Professor and Master Teacher of Wildlife Ecology at Clemson University, where his most recent scholarly efforts address the confluences of race, place and nature. A 2022 MacArthur Fellow, Dr. Lanham was also named one of the 100 most influential Black Americans by "The Root", in 2022. Creatively, Drew is the Poet Laureate of Edgefield County, South Carolina and the author of Sparrow Envy - Poems, Sparrow Envy - A Field Guide to Birds and Lesser Beasts, and The Home Place - Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature. His memoir is a past winner of the Reed Environmental Writing Award (Southern Environmental Law Center), the Southern Book Prize, and a 2017 finalist for the Burroughs Medal. It was named a memoir and scholarly book of the decade by Lithub & Chronicle of Higher Education. His forthcoming works are Joy is the Justice We Give Ourselves, The Bird I Became, and Range Maps - Birds, Blackness and Loving Nature Between the Two.
Refreshments and lunch are included in Summit registration fee.
Lodging
Birds Georgia has reserved a block of rooms on the evening of Friday, April 19 for this event at the Wingate by Wyndham Athens Near Downtown Athens, 255 North Ave, Athens, GA 30601. The room rate is $139.99/night and rooms must be reserved before March 19. Call the hotel directly at 706-707-9027 to reserve your room and mention that you are in the Birds Georgia block.
Cancellation Policy:
Please note the special cancellation policy for this event due to meal guarantee dates at the Classic Center: If you need to cancel your registration more than 10 days prior to the event (on or before April 9), we will refund the registration fee less a 20% processing fee. Cancellations nine (9) days or less (on or after April 10) prior to the event are non-refundable.. All events/classes are rain or shine unless otherwise noted. If a class or event must be cancelled because of weather or other unforeseen circumstances, registered participants will receive a full refund.
Please note that you must register for the Georgia Bird Fest Summit separately from other events.
Registration for this event is now closed.
