2024 Conference: Birdsong in the City

Dr. John Hartig is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research at University of Windsor, Ontario. The focus of his multi-disciplinary research is cleanup and restoration of the most polluted areas of the Great Lakes. For the past 14 years he served as Refuge Manager for the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. John has received a number of awards for his work, including the 2017 Community Peacemaker Award from Wayne State University’s Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, the 2016 Edward G. Voss Conservation Science Award from Michigan Nature Association, the 2015 Conservationist of the Year Award from the John Muir Association, and the 2013 Conservation Advocate of the Year Award from the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. He has authored or co-authored over 100 publications on the environment, including four books.

Diane Cheklich is the Detroit Bird Alliance board president, and she chairs Detroit Bird Alliance’s Conservation Committee. She enjoys seeing pheasants in Detroit’s open spaces, and she regularly goes birdwatching on Belle Isle. An ardent environmentalist, she believes it’s critical to protect flyways and habitat, and hopes that the Detroit Bird City project will become a model for restoring bird habitat and improving community residents’ access to nature.

Chris is a MSc. student in Biology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Chris will be presenting on his work with the Study of Active Neighborhoods Detroit (StAND) Project, studying patterns of bird species diversity and occupancy in Detroit neighborhoods using bioacoustic recorders. The results of this work will help create positive conservation outcomes in the city, and inform additional research into the relationships between biodiversity, natural soundscapes, and human health.

Suzanne Honda is a Michigan-based poet and author of the recent chapbook, "When We Were Birds" (Porkbelly Press, 2022). Her writing is a meditative study of spirituality examined through the dual lenses of femininity and nature.

Andy Jarema is a music educator, composer, and trumpet player in the metro Detroit area. He has a decade of music teaching experience in public schools, including four years as a middle school band director in Howell, Michigan, and four years as a K-6 general music/band teacher in Warren, Michigan. He also served as a virtual teaching artist for the Great Bend Center for Music (Washington state) developing new curriculum to teach Video Game Music, Digital Audio Production, Family Ukulele, and other virtual music courses. Andy received a Fund For Teachers fellowship in 2016 to explore the musical culture of Route 66 and has also served as an Artist-in-Residence through the National Park Service (Great Smoky Mountains in 2018 and Hawai’i Volcanoes in 2019).

Rosann Kovalcik has been watching birds since she was a teenager, when she was introduced to the hobby by Lake Shore High School biology teachers. She has owned a Wild Birds Unlimited Nature Shop there for thirty-one years. Rosann has been “Bringing People & Nature Together” in a variety of ways. Her dedication to bird conservation has been the inspiration for her past service on the Board of Directors of Michigan Audubon for ten years, and for her current term on the Board of Directors of Detroit Bird Alliance, where she has served over the past decade. Rosann’s interest in creating native gardens for birds began in 2000, when she transformed her yard into a certified wildlife habitat, where 139 species of birds have been observed.

Amber is a health geographer with a focus on social justice and intersections between spatial and social features of neighborhoods. Her research relates to aspects of the neighborhood built, physical and social environment that may bolster opportunities for a healthy life, often in the face of socioeconomic adversity.

The Birding by Ear and Beyond Program is coordinated by UM-Dearborn alumna, Donna Posont, who herself is blind. Donna graduated with an Environmental Studies degree from the University and was the second blind person in the United States to be recognized as a Certified Interpretive Guide by the National Association for Interpretation (NAI). Donna's efforts with Birding by Ear and Beyond have received national attention.