Kimberly and I just came back from a very productive Monday meeting with Dr. Gary Langham, who is now Chief Scientist for the National Audubon Society. I've known Gary for years, and before I met him I knew his dad, who was (and still is!) one of the most active birders in California. Anyway, Gary Langham has been birding since he was seven years old, he was leading bird tours before he was 20, he has done exhaustive fieldwork all over North and South America, and he has a Ph.D. from Cornell University. One of those special combinations, a highly trained scientist who also totally understands birds and birding. The fact that he now holds the top science position at Audubon is good news for us, and a good reflection of the way that Audubon has refocused its efforts on bird conservation. There have been a couple of periods during the last 30 years when the society was trying to cover every aspect of the environment, but now they've come back to the area where they can do their most effective work, and they have some tremendously exciting projects in the works.
We were there specifically to discuss Black Swamp Bird Observatory's work to protect stopover habitat along Lake Erie, but Langham also met with Audubon leaders from around the state and then gave a fascinating evening program about current work at National Audubon's science department. All of this took place at the Grange Insurance Audubon Center in Columbus, and was arranged and facilitated by Christie Vargo, director of the center. Ohio is lucky to have dynamic leaders like Christie; she and her staff and the Grange Insurance Audubon Center certainly deserve the support of the statewide birding community.
Kenn Kaufman
Oak Harbor, OH
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