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Audubon recently hired Amanda Hackney as its first full-time Coastal Manager in more than a decade. “In the wake of the Gulf disaster in April 2010 we increased the time and resources that existing staff could dedicate to our Coastal Stewardship Program, but we were still missing a full-time biologist to guide and build our activities in a strategic way,” says Iliana Peña, director of conservation for Audubon Texas. “Amanda is joining our team at the perfect time, with the right set of skills to take this critical program to the next level.”
Amanda attended LSU and graduated with a double major in Wildlife Ecology and Animal Science. After receiving her BS, she took an intern position with the USFWS in Cape Charles, VA. In Virginia, she worked for several years on Fisherman Island NWR and the Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR. Research there was focused mainly on American oystercatcher and piping plover productivity, but Amanda also monitored several colonial nesting species, gathered and analyzed data for invasive vegetation projects, assisted with avian influenza surveys, worked on mammalian predator control, and conducted many diamondback terrapin projects.
In 2007, she was accepted into the Wildlife and Fisheries Biology Master’s program at Clemson University. After graduation in 2010, Amanda took a position with the Fort Worth Zoo as a project coordinator in the Education Department. During her time there, she created new secondary and post-secondary programs, organized new partnerships with local colleges, developed material and trained volunteers for Texas Turtle Watch (a citizen science program to assess the state's turtle populations).
State director Bob Benson added, “Audubon has managed the colonial waterbirds of Texas since 1923, and many of the state’s waterbird colonies are under our direct care. Adding Amanda means we will be able to take our conservation to the next level, including the creation of a coast-wide management plan for these iconic birds, as well as a full-time presence in Houston and other key coastal cities.”
Audubon Texas gained national recognition from the U.S. Dept. of the Interior in 2010 when its work resulted in the removal of the Brown Pelican from the Endangered Species List. In previous years the organization has been recognized by the Governors’ Blue Ribbon Committee on Environmental Excellence.
The new staff position was made possible by grants from the Houston Endowment, Meadows Foundation, and National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, as well as other private foundation, corporate, and individual donations.