Oneida Bird Monitoring Program, co-led by UW-Green Bay’s Erin Giese, receives Lake Michigan Champion of Conservation Award

Since 2021, UW-Green Bay Cofrin Center for Biodiversity’s Erin Giese has co-led a bird monitoring program on Oneida Nation’s restored lands in collaboration with the Oneida Nation, Northeastern Wisconsin Audubon, and Audubon Great Lakes. Bird data collected for this program are used to evaluate the success of Oneida’s restoration work, inform land management decisions, and track changes in bird communities. With a cohort of dedicated volunteers, experts monitor breeding marsh, grassland, and forest birds and migratory shorebirds and waterfowl. In just 2.5 short years, it is abundantly clear how important Oneida Nation lands are for birds, particularly grassland birds, waterfowl, and shorebirds.

Early this month, this Oneida Bird Monitoring Program (OBMP) received a Lake Michigan Champion of Conservation Award given by the Lake Michigan Stakeholders. Cofrin Center for Biodiversity’s Erin Giese and OBMP staff Joe Torres (UW-Green Bay alum), Sarah Baughman (UW-Green Bay undergraduate), and Emily Swagel (UW-Green Bay undergraduate) accepted the award on behalf of all the partners involved in this project.