Staff & Committees

Impacting bird conservation across the Western Hemisphere

Paul Schmidt
Director of Road to Recovery
paulschmidtc4c@gmail.com

Katie Holland
Social Scientist
kkholland@vt.edu

Esmeralda Bravo Hernández
International Fellow
bio.bravohe@gmail.com

Kat Temple
Graduate Fellow
kat0084@auburn.edu

Contact Road to Recovery staff with your questions and to be added to our email list: r2rbirds@gmail.com

Collaboration is Critical to Our Success

In our Guidance Document—created with the help of experienced professionals from federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, and universities— Road to Recovery (R2R) outlines a process that will lead to the restoration of bird populations throughout the United States, Canada, and beyond. Our vision is that such collaborations efforts will continue to provide a unified approach to recovering Tipping Point Species.

photo: Tim Romano

Road to Recovery Partnerships

Collaborations with diverse conservation initiatives like Partners in Flight (PIF) and the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) are critical to our success. R2R will work closely with established PIF working groups to assess species vulnerability and urgency, understand science gaps, increase social science capacity, and advance the efforts of species working groups. Likewise, R2R will collaborate with NABCI’s sub-committees to strategically meet conservation targets across the full annual cycle, advance human dimensions and address environmental justice issues as they relate to bird conservation.

Leadership Team

Humberto Berlanga – Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad

Susan Bonfield – Environment for the Americas

Esmeralda Bravo – Road to Recovery

Katie Christie – Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Miyoko Chu – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Ashley Dayer – Virginia Tech
Todd Fearer -Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture
Marcel Gahbauer – Environment and Climate Change Canada
Katie Holland – Road to Recovery; Virginia Tech
Edwin Juarez – Arizona Game and Fish Department
Anna Lello-Smith – Wildlife Conservation Society, Mesoamerica & Western Caribbean
Peter Marra – Georgetown University
Ken Rosenberg – Cornell Lab of Ornithology (retired)

Kristen Ruegg – Colorado State University
Brandt Ryder – Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
Paul Schmidt – Road to Recovery; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Ducks Unlimited, Inc (retired)
Melanie Steinkamp – U.S. Geological Survey

Becky Stewart– Environment and Climate Change Canada

Kat Temple – Road to Recovery; Auburn University
Bradley Wilkinson – U.S. North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI)
Tom Will – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (retired)
E.J. Williams – American Bird Conservancy
Chad Wilsey – National Audubon Society
Mark Wimer – U.S. Geological Survey

Core Team

Esmeralda Bravo – Road to Recovery

Katie Christie – Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Katie Holland – Road to Recovery; Virginia Tech

Peter Marra – Georgetown University

Ken Rosenberg – Cornell Lab of Ornithology (retired)

Brandt Ryder – Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

Paul Schmidt – Road to Recovery; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Ducks Unlimited, Inc (retired)

Kat Temple – Road to Recovery; Auburn University

Jeff Walters – Virginia Tech

Tom Will – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (retired)

Subcommittees

Road to Recovery has sustained its momentum since 2021 by forming a Species Working Group Subcommittee, an International Subcommittee, and State Agency Subcommittee, holding three informal interactive engagement sessions to provide a forum for discussion and feedback on the recovery process. In the future, R2R’s goal is to make measurable progress in reversing declines of bird populations through activating research and conservation communities.

International Subcommittee

Adrianne Tossas – BirdsCaribbean

Ancilleno Davis – University of The Bahamas; Science and Perspective

Anna Lello-Smith – Wildlife Conservation Society, Mesoamerica & Western Caribbean

Esmeralda Bravo – Road to Recovery

Humberto Berlanga – Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad

Isadora Angarita-Martínez – Manomet

Jajean Rose-Burney – Jocotoco Conservation Fundation

Juliana Bosi de Almeida – Manomet

Katie Holland – Road to Recovery; Virginia Tech

Lisa Sorenson – BirdsCaribbean

Natalia Martinez Curci – Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas)

Mary Whitfield – Southern Sierra Research Station

Paul Schmidt – Road to Recovery; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Ducks Unlimited, Inc (retired)

Rosabel Miró Rodríguez – Panama Audubon Society

Sarahy Contreras Martinez – University of Guadalajara

Steve Albert – Institute for Bird Populations

Yenifer Díaz – Panama Audubon Society

Species Working Group Subcommittee

Katie Christie – Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Maureen Correll – Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Ashley Dayer – Virginia Tech
Todd Fearer – Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture
Katie Holland – Virginia Tech
Edwin Juarez – Arizona Game and Fish Department
Vicente Rodriguez – National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity
Ken Rosenberg – Cornell Lab of Ornithology (retired)
Amber Roth – University of Maine
Brandt Ryder – Road to Recovery/ Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
Paul Schmidt – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Ducks Unlimited, Inc (retired)
Calandra Stanley – Georgetown University
Melanie Steinkamp – U.S. Geological Survey
E.J. Williams – American Bird Conservancy
David Yeany – Western Pennsylvania Conservancy