Hi everyone, A week from today, Jen Miller and Yula Kapetanakos, both formerly of the Lab of Ornithology and now with the USFWS's Combating Wildlife Trafficking branch, will be visiting the Lab and giving a talk on their work. Please stop by on Friday, Nov. 22 at noon in Kingfisher (room 212) if you're interested in hearing about new funding and strategies to tackle the complex issue of illegal songbird trade between the Americas.
Event details can be found here: events.cornell.edu/event/saving-songbirds-and-protecting-people-navigating-policy-law-and-culture-to-reduce-wildlife-trafficking (Add "https://"; in case your browser doesn't do it automatically.) Sincerely, Irene == Speaker bios: Dr. Yula Kapetanakos is an International Program Specialist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's International Affairs (USFWS-IA) Combating Wildlife Trafficking (CWT) Branch. Yula joined USFWS-IA in 2015 as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Technology and Policy Fellow and worked within the U.S. CITES Scientific Authority on policy issues related to international wildlife trade. Inspired to understand and tackle the illicit trade in wildlife, Yula joined the CWT Branch in 2017 and manages a portfolio of financial assistance to NGOs and government partners working to address this complex social and ecological conservation threat. She received her PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Cornell University where she explored mark recapture methods and the conservation genetics of old-world vultures. Yula later joined the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Multimedia Unit as an Associate Producer where she teamed up with producers and film makers to create impactful conservation stories. Yula loves to spend time in the woods with her dog, and has taken on the challenge to learn jazz guitar and the martial art of Jeet Kune Do. She is the daughter of Greek immigrants, grew up in Washington DC, and is currently based in the Fingerlakes region of New York. Dr. Jen Miller is a wildlife conservationist passionate about protecting biodiversity and building resilience among conservation practitioners. As an International Program Specialist for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s International Affairs program, she serves as a program officer and policy advisor managing financial assistance programs to combat wildlife trafficking. Jen oversees the $5 million Species Conservation Catalyst Fund on Songbird Trade to support conservationists addressing the illegal, unsustainable songbird trade for singing competitions from the Guiana Shield and Caribbean. In her spare time, and as a Certified iRest© Yoga Nidra meditation teacher, Jen teaches workshops to help conservation practitioners navigate the emotional toll of saving the planet. From 2014-2016, Jen affiliated with Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology as a Communications Intern and Cornell’s Department of Natural Resources as a Postdoctoral Researcher with Panthera. She earned a PhD in Ecology from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and a BA in Organismal Biology from Claremont McKenna College. Outside the office, Jen relishes bird watching, meditating, baking pies and kayaking with her ornithologist husband Sahas Barve (also a Cornell Lab of Ornithology alum) and fellow-birdwatching cats where she lives in central Florida. Read more on her work at www.jennie-miller.com. == Irene Liu, Ph.D. (she/her) Science Editor Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Center for Conservation Media 159 Sapsucker Woods Road Ithaca, NY 14850 https://www.birds.cornell.edu/conservation-media/ -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") Cayugabirds-L List Info: NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsRULES_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm ARCHIVES: 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/cayugabirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) aba_DOT_org/birding-news/ Please submit your observations to eBird: ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ --
