Landscapes That Define Us

Not long ago, I was back at Harvard, speaking with students about careers in climate and conservation. After the event, many of them came up to me, full of ideas, asking for advice, taking my card, promising to follow up. And, to my delight, they did.

As we talked, I could see my old dorm in the distance. It reminded me how much my life has been shaped by a few defining places. Some I passed through. Others are where a profound change took shape. I was once the student standing there, trying to understand what kind of scientist, and what kind of community member, I hoped to become.

I arrived as a psychology major, fascinated by behavior, still searching for where I fit in science. While I was there, a class with the legendary E.O. Wilson helped me see that the questions I was asking about people also applied to the natural world. This awareness did not give me all the answers, but it changed my direction. My path began to take a different shape.

Standing on campus again, I found myself thinking about how little of who we become is accidental. We are shaped by the places that hold us long enough to change us. Birds depend on places like this, too. Their lives are defined by movement and by the landscapes where they return, stay, and raise the next generation. Seeing birds this way changes how conservation needs to work.

At Audubon, we have set a clear ambition: to conserve 300 million acres of connected habitat across the Americas. Reaching a goal like this takes many partners, in many places, using many approaches.

One of the ways we are advancing this work is through Conserva Aves, our hemispheric partnership at the heart of this issue, co-led with American Bird Conservancy, Birds Canada, BirdLife International, and RedLAC. Together with local community partners, this effort is securing a connected corridor of the most important core habitats across Latin America and the Caribbean, places birds return to and depend on, year after year.

When Conserva Aves launched, we set an ambitious goal of helping protect 100 critical places. We are on track to exceed our goal, and we are already preparing to aim higher. This progress is built the same way strong places are built: through shared purpose and long-term commitment.

As I left campus, I kept thinking about how my own life has been shaped by a few key places that gave me direction. Across the hemisphere, birds depend on places like this, too. When we do our work well, these places remain, and the journeys and generations they support endure.

This piece originally ran in the Spring 2026 issue as the Audubon View. To receive our print magazine, become a member by making a donation today.