Birds capture the human spirit, our imagination, and our passion in a way that few other organisms do. They also serve as the most accessible and sensitive indicator of ecosystem health and climate change. When combined, these two seemingly simple statements hint at the tremendous power that birds have for people. Never before have we had as great an opportunity to bring together people from around the world to monitor and understand our natural world – simply by watching birds. Already, over 750,000 people around the world have taken part in reporting observations to eBird – and given us an unprecedented look into bird migration. Join Director of eBird, Chris Wood, to learn how observations from birdwatchers are empowering science and conservation at scale around the world. 

About the speaker

Chris Wood is the Director of eBird and Managing Director for the Center of Avian Population Studies at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Much of his time is focused on leading the eBird and Engineering team within the Center for Avian Populations studies. He and his team have developed a novel approach to citizen science by engaging diverse communities interested in watching birds while developing partnerships with scientists in a wide variety of fields. eBird has become a major source of biodiversity data, increasing our knowledge of the dynamics of species distributions, and having a direct impact on the conservation of birds and their habitats. Participants have collectively spent more than 100 million hours collecting effort-based checklists, amassing more than one billion records, from every country in the world. He is widely recognized as a leading authority on bird identification, distribution, and engaging the public in science.