SOUND, SPIES & BIG DATA: A LIFE LIVED WITH BIRDS - Linda Macaulay, Macaulay Library & Cornell

From an eagle to a blue jay, birds surround us whether we live in a city or a suburb. While feathers and bright colors are what most people know about birds, bird sounds-calls and songs-are in fact some of the most distinguishing characteristics of birds. Over the last fifty years I have researched birds and their sounds, first as a bird watcher, then as a sound recordist and Research Associate at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and now in my role as Chair of the Board. In this talk, I will discuss my life lived with birds-from hiking in Borneo to driving through Africa, and how you can make birds a part of your life and contribute to conservation.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Linda Macaulay is the Chair of the Administrative Board of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. The Lab has a $45 million budget, the largest data base at Cornell with over 1.4 billion sightings of birds and large public outreach programs. Linda specializes in sound recording of birds and animals outside of the United States. She is a Research Associate of Cornell University and has recorded birds in over 50 countries, including 26 African countries. She has contributed an astounding 650 first cuts to the Macaulay Library collection, representing more than 2,700 different bird species and over 6,000 individual recordings. Many universities and organizations such as the American Museum of Natural History and the New York Zoological Society have used her recordings. She has also contributed to the discovery of new species with her recordings. She is the 2010 recipient of the Arthur Allen Award in ornithology.
She is a Trustee Emerita of Cornell University having served on the Academic Affairs Committee and Community Relations Committee. She is a Presidential Councilor of Cornell University.
She is Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of American Museum of Natural History, where she serves on the Executive Committee and is Chairman of the Collections Committee. She also serves on the Science Policy Committee, Investment Committee, and Finance & Budget Committee. She has done volunteer work researching bird species in their Ornithology Department for many years.
Linda served on the board of the Rogosin Institute for many years.
She is an Elected Member of the American Ornithology Society a member of the Association of Field Ornithologists, the British Ornithologists Union, the American Birding Association, a founding member of the African Bird Club and a life member of the Nepal Bird Club.