Sonoran Joint Venture Coordinator, Dr. Jennie Duberstein, recently received two prestigious recognitions for her contributions to bird conservation and leadership. Jennie was named the inaugural winner of American Ornithological Society’s (AOS) Conservation Practitioner Award. New in 2023, this award recognizes outstanding work in government agencies or NGO’s to further the conservation of birds. It acknowledges the planning, on-the-ground, and day-to-day work of dedicated professionals addressing avian conservation issues at a local or regional scale. As the SJV Coordinator, Jennie is responsible for partnership-building for birds and habitat conservation across the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico. She has directed environmental education programs, developed community-based conservation projects in the U.S.–Mexico border region, developed and taught courses and workshops on bird identification, ecotourism, and bird monitoring. Jennie is a conservation social scientist who has been a leader in advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion in bird conservation. She is also very engaged in education and outreach and has been a long-time camp leader for fledgling young birders, directing field courses, summer camps, and conferences, and generally helping to connect young birders with opportunities and each other. Learn more about Jennie’s award here.

Jennie was recognized with the 2022 JEDIA (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Access) Champion of the Year – Individual Leadership Award by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southwest Region. This award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated outstanding performance on initiatives that support diversity and inclusion in the Service. Jennie has been an integral part of the of Southwest Region’s R2 Priorities, Purpose, and Values Team that has been working over the past year and a half to develop draft regional purpose, values, and priorities that reflect all R2 employees; JEDIA factors heavily into all aspects of the regional document. Jennie is working with the SJV Management Board and partners to put addressing issues of JEDIA the foundation of the SJV’s conservation efforts moving forward. This includes planning for the development of a longer-term JEDIA strategy that connects closely with the SJV Conservation Implementation Plan, as well as bringing in outside expertise to provide needed training for the SJV Management Board and staff and guide development of the strategy. In addition, Jennie is active in many JEDIA initiatives, including facilitating a weekly discussion group, and membership on the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Sub-committee, to name a few. As Jennie describes, “we need to work together to decolonize conservation and rebuild and strengthen systems of responsibility, for ourselves, for each other, and for the world that we are working to conserve.”