The next Audubon Leadership Conference is scheduled for July 17-20, 2025, in Montreal, Canada.  This out-of-country location reflects Audubon’s shift to a hemispheric approach to conservation, and the conference will be a gathering of leaders from across Audubon’s community of staff, partners, and campus and community chapters.

The conference is designed to connect conservation leaders around the hemisphere with each other in an environment that facilitates learning and innovation. Conference participants will spend three days learning from each other, seeing how local work adds up to hemispheric impact, coordinating action going forward, and discussing challenges with fellow leaders who share a commitment to bird conservation, advocacy and building community.

We’ve designed conference working sessions to be collegial, collaborative and focused on Flight Plan impact. They will feature concrete, coordinated actions that participants can start immediately, with hemispheric partners and solid support from the entire Audubon community to make those actions successful. We also have lined up an exciting roster of keynote speakers to help contextualize and inspire all of us and perhaps give us new ideas and ways to work.

Audubon is estimating the cost of attendance for us in the Southwest will be roughly $1,355 (this includes airfare, hotel and ground transportation), and to help with some of these costs, they are offering two scholarship options:

1. For Community Chapter Leaders aged 35 and younger, a scholarship will cover the cost of both registration and hotel accommodations during the conference. Registration is $500 USD and hotel is 229 CAN per night (conversion rates vary). Scholarship awardees will receive a special registration link which will not charge for registration or a hotel room for three nights. Flights/Amtrak, hotel incidentals and other travel expenses are not covered by this scholarship and are the responsibility of the individual or their chapter.
2. For Community Chapter Leaders aged 36 or older, a scholarship will cover the cost of registration — $500 USD. Scholarship awardees will receive a special registration link which will not charge the cost of registration and will direct you to the website to secure your hotel lodging. Flights/Amtrak, lodging accommodations, and other travel expenses are not covered by this scholarship and are the responsibility of the individual or their chapter.

You can learn more about these scholarships and submit your applications here. Registration will open in May.  To be on an email list for forthcoming information, email Steven.Prager@audubon.org or if you have questions, reach out to leadershipconference@audubon.org

Gabriel Mindlin and Ama Amador of the University of Buenos Aires have been investigating that idea. Zebra finches are song learners  and implanted electrodes indicate that their sleeping song movements are fragmented, disjointed and sporadic, “rather like a dream” Mindlin says. Great Kiskadees have a more instinctive song with limited learning capacity. Mathematical analysis converting their muscle movements during sleep into audible sounds indicated “quick, identical note syllables” sometimes combined with a flash of head feathers which is a threat that occurs during territorial disputes when they are awake. Amador noted the loud and aggressive sounds were “more like a nightmare than a dream.”

David Margoliash of the University of Chicago, whose earlier work identified the song-learning brain regions, says the results agree with his own observations of sleeping birds’ neurons.  But he stops short of saying this sleep activity is “dreaming” and feels more research, including whether birds experience rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, is needed.

Based on a November 2024 article in Scientific American written by David Godkin.

Our chapter is seeking a ninth board member, preferably with an interest in program development and the six evening programs that we host each year, to join our board and help revitalize our activities. In this role, you will help recruit presenters, arrange venues for the presentations, and assist our board member in charge of communications to get the word out. Our evening programs are free for anyone to attend. No particular expertise or background is necessary. All that is required is a curiosity to identify topics, schedule presenters who would interest chapter members, and encourage members to attend. The nine-member board works collaboratively, and your fellow board members will assist you in building the program calendar. In addition, you will participate in the board’s regular quarterly business meetings. As a board member, you will have a voice in our other activities, including field trips to birding hotspots; advocacy for conservation at the local, state, and federal levels; collection of data for climate watch; and keeping members informed through our website (audubonsantafe.org) and emails. If you think you might be the right person for our board opening, send us an email telling us a little bit about yourself to the following email address: robertlguenther5@gmail.com

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A few months ago, the Sangre de Cristo chapter board sent an email survey to everyone on its distribution list to gauge their interest in participating in various chapter activities. The response was encouraging. Sixty percent of the 2,000-plus recipients opened the survey. And though an undetermined number of recipients encountered technical problems responding to the Constant Contact survey, many recipients took the extra step and sent emails with their responses, ideas and suggestions.

Overwhelmingly, respondents (83%) said that they are interested in participating in evening programs organized by the chapter. However, 43% said they have never done so, with some expressing concerns about travelling to and from Randall Davey Audubon Center at night. In addition, respondents were almost evenly split between preferring in-person or Zoom meetings.

One of the clearest takeaways from the survey is that evening presentations need to give members the option of attending in-person or via a computer at home. The chapter board has decided to find a venue that satisfies members’ desires for evening programs that can be conveniently accessed both in-person and via a Zoom. The board hopes to have identified a solution in time for the Fall program season.

In the past, internet bandwidth issues at the Randall Davey Audubon Center have prevented the chapter from offering hybrid in-person/Zoom meetings from that location. Previously, the chapter had hosted evening programs at various locations but stopped when rental fees were raised.

In the meantime, the board continues to study your responses regarding field trips, program topics and other activities, and to take steps that will enhance the value of the Sangre de Cristo Chapter of Audubon to you.  

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The Legislative session in 2024 was a short, 30-day session solely focused on the state’s budget. But in that short time, we saw huge successes for conservation funding, which will ensure restoration and protection work will happen on the ground at a far greater scale than New Mexico has ever been able to do.

New Mexico’s 2024 legislative session ended with a historic $300 million appropriation for the Land of Enchantement Legacy Fund. This will support land and water conservation, agriculture, and outdoor recreation projects.

In the 2023 session, Audubon was part of a large coalition which worked to establish the Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund. Prior to this fund, New Mexico did not have a dedicated source of revenue for conservation work. Not only did this mean agencies had to request additional money from the legislature every time they wanted to do a large project not within its regular budget, it also meant we did not have the often-required matching dollars to secure federal money.

Click here to read full story in the Audubon Southwest newsletter

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