May 26, 2021, 7:15 PM-8:30 PM EDT 

One of the world’s last large intact forest regions is the Boreal Forest of North America stretching from Alaska east to Newfoundland. Supporting between one and three billion birds, the Boreal Forest is aptly named North America’s Bird Nursery. While few people have heard the news, some of the world’s largest land conservation actions to protect birds and their habitat are underway in the Boreal, led by Indigenous governments and communities forging new, exciting partnership and stewardship models. Join us to hear about some innovate ways National Audubon’s Boreal Conservation program is working to conserve the Boreal Forest including through some innovate collaborative models with Indigenous peoples and modern research with partners like the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 

Jeffrey V. Wells , Ph.D., is the Vice-president of Boreal Conservation for the National Audubon Society. He has had a wide-ranging career in science and bird conservation. After receiving his undergraduate degree from the University of Maine in 1988 he went on to earn a Master’s (1992) and Ph.D. (1995) in ecology and evolutionary biology from Cornell University. During his first tenure with Audubon, Dr. Wells was located at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, where he continues as an Associate of the Lab. Jeff then became the Senior Scientist for the International Boreal Conservation Campaign and Boreal Songbird Initiative, leading their science efforts for almost 20 years. As part of this work in 2011, he completed the book Boreal Birds of North America: A Hemispheric View of Their Conservation Links and Significance (University of California Press). Dr. Wells is also an active birder and for 12 years was a member of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Sapsucker’s birding team, which won the prestigious World Series of Birding in 2001 and 2002. His contributions as a member of the World Series team were instrumental in helping the Lab raise more than $150,000 each year for the Lab’s conservation work.

Dr. Wells is an active speaker and writer. He has authored or co-authored thousands of scientific papers, reports, book chapters, blogs, columns, op-eds, and popular articles on birds and bird conservation and other conservation topics. His book, Birder’s Conservation Handbook: 100 North American Birds at Risk, published in Fall 2007 by Princeton University Press, was the first of its kind—a bird book for bird conservation. More recently he co-authored, Maine’s Favorite Birds (Tilbury House, 2012), and in 2017, Birds of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao: A Site & Field Guide (Cornell University Press). In 2020, Jeff was part of the author team to publish the monumental new book Birds of Maine (Princeton University Press). Jeff lives in Gardiner, Maine, with his wife, teenage son, and two indoor cats.