Mass Audubon Sends a Message from #EarthtoParis

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Hillary T.

UPDATE:  The summit officially closed on Saturday, December 12. We are happy to share that all 196 nations agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and set standards for monitoring and verification procedures. While the agreement is non-binding, it is still a major step in the right direction. Our friends over at the Union of Concerned Scientists were in Paris and offer a great interpretation of the agreement. Here at Mass Audubon, our efforts to prepare for the impacts of Climate Change in Massachusetts continue. Learn more about our work.

ORIGINAL POST: The United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21), where leaders from all over the world have convened in Paris to create a new global climate agreement, is entering is second week. Progress is afoot, and program leaders have announced a new version of a draft agreement. But, their work is far from complete and many issues still need to be sorted out.

This Monday and Tuesday, a two-day summit called Earth to Paris will livestream a series of renowned speakers, from UN Ambassador of Peace Jane Goodall to famed French photographer Yann Arthus Bertrand to actor Alec Baldwin, who will announce the winners of United Nations Development Programme Equator Prize. They will discuss how innovation, technology, and creativity are driving climate solutions and turning talk into ambitious climate action.

The event is not just taking place in Paris. Rather, Earth to Paris aims to inspire global dialogue and has asked people from around the world to send messages to COP21 leaders to explain why climate change action is critical using the hashtag #EarthtoParis.

The nature of Massachusetts will be affected substantially by climate change. And addressing its impacts to people and wildlife is a key part of our previous and new five-year Strategic Plan. But, to send a simple message to COP21, we reached out to our staff from across the state to give just a few reasons why they believe climate change action needs to happen now.

Have an #EarthtoParis message to share as well? Write it down, take a photo, and share it to our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter account using #MassAudubon #EarthtoParis.

Climate Change Action Matters …

The Messenger: Film Screening and Discussion on December 3

Posted on December 2, 2015 by Hillary T.

The_Messenger_WebsiteJoin Wayne Petersen, Mass Audubon’s Director of Important Bird Areas Program, and Joan Walsh, Mass Audubon’s Director of Bird Monitoring, on Thursday, December 3 at 7:30 pm for the Massachusetts premiere of the new documentary The Messenger: Imagine a World Without Birdsong at The Regent Theatre in Arlington as well as a post-screening discussion.

Purchase tickets

Film Synopsis

For thousands of years, songbirds were regarded by mankind as messengers from the gods. Today, these creatures—woven inextricably into the fabric of our environment—are vanishing at an alarming rate. Under threat from climate change, pesticides, and more, populations of hundreds of species have dipped dramatically.

As scientists, activists, and bird enthusiasts investigate this phenomenon, amazing secrets of the bird world come to light for the first time in this acclaimed and visually thrilling documentary. Find out what’s killing our songbirds, and what can be done about it. As in ancient times, songbirds may once again be carrying a message to humans—one that we ignore at our own peril.

Watch the trailer at the official film site.

About Wayne Petersen

Wayne R Petersen is Director of the Massachusetts Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program at the Mass Audubon. He was the Field Ornithologist at Mass Audubon for 15 years before assuming the position of IBA Director in 2005. As co-author of Birds of Massachusetts (1993) and co-editor of the Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas 1 & 2 (2003, 2013), his knowledge of the habitats, distribution, and status of the Commonwealth’s bird life is both extensive and wide-ranging.

As a New England Regional Editor for North American Birds magazine and editor of the New England Christmas Bird Count for National Audubon, Wayne’s knowledge of the seasonal distribution of New England bird life give him a wide perspective when thinking about Important Bird Areas in Massachusetts and beyond. In 2005 Wayne was the recipient of the American Birding Association’s Ludlow Griscom Award for outstanding contributions in regional ornithology.

About Joan Walsh

Joan Walsh has been watching, and learning from, birds for 35 years and has been the Director of Bird Monitoring at Mass Audubon since 2006. During her career she has focused on research that has direct implications for bird conservation. This interest led to enlisting hundreds of citizen scientists for the creation of the highly regarded Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas 2 and two State of the Birds of Massachusetts reports.

She was a Farallon Island biologist where she studied Elephant Seals, Tufted Puffins, Brandt’s Cormorants, Western Gulls, and even did a little Great White Shark work. She went to graduate school in Georgia, where she studied Wood Storks, and was the former Director of Research at Cape May Bird Observatory in NJ. Her formative years as an ornithologist were spent on Great Gull Island, NY, home to the largest colonies of Common and Roseate Terns in the North Atlantic.