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Keesee Awards Luncheon

Thanks to all who joined us this year!
Previous Honorees RSVPs Have Concluded

The annual Keesee Awards Luncheon is held in honor of Thomas W. Keesee, Jr., and to recognize those who show remarkable leadership and commitment to protecting birds and the places they need with the Keesee Conservation Award.

Thomas W. Keesee, Jr., was a longtime member of the National Audubon Society’s Board of Directors and served as its Chairman from 1979 to 1983. He was seen as a strong, effective leader who believed that chapters played an important role in delivering  Audubon’s mission at the local level. As Chairman, he fostered ground-breaking initiatives in field work, such as the Save the Condor Program in California and the Puffin Project in Maine.

Celebrating Hemispheric Forest Bird Conservation

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Ethan Tapper, author of How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World.

THOMAS W. KEESEE, JR., CONSERVATION AWARD WINNERS

Lyme Timber Company
For their exemplary stewardship of hundreds of thousands of acres of forest in the Adirondacks.

Red Nacional de Observadores de Aves
For their success in jointly facilitating and implementing Colombia's 2030 National Bird Conservation Strategy.

EVENT DETAILS

Wednesday, November 19, 2025
Metropolitan Club
One East 60th Street
New York, NY 10022

12:00 PM – Reception
12:30 PM – Luncheon and Presentation

For more information, please email Nina Garcia at nina.garcia@audubon.org.

RSVPs Have Concluded

 

ABOUT OUR HONOREES

For nearly two decades, the Lyme Timber Company has carefully stewarded 234,000 acres of forest in New York’s Adirondack Mountains, including the Kunjamuk Young Forest Demonstration Area, where  habitat for species of greatest conservation need has been created since 2015. Lyme’s efforts have successfully demonstrated that commercial timber harvesting can create diverse forest habitat for birds and other wildlife in a carefully planned, science-based, and sustainable manner. Audubon conducts biannual breeding bird surveys to monitor the bird response to different harvests, and the results have so far been ideal.  A full suite of forest birds are benefitting from the habitat conditions, including birds that only nest in young forest - Ruffed Grouse, White-throated Sparrows, and more.

The Red Nacional de Observadores de Aves (RNOA) brings together organizations of ornithologists, birdwatchers, and bird lovers across Colombia to study and conserve birds and their habitats, including New York breeding birds like the Scarlet Tanager and Mourning Warbler. Over the past five years, Audubon, RNOA, and the Humboldt Institute jointly facilitated the development of Colombia’s 2030 National Bird Conservation Strategy, and are now supporting its implementation, which has already yielded high-impact results in habitat conservation. More than 2000 organizations were/are involved in this policy framework. 

ABOUT OUR KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Ethan Tapper is one of Audubon's first-ever endorsed foresters and a bird-friendly maple producer. His recently published book, How to Love a Forest, was inspired by his work and personal experience working as a forester in Vermont and caring for his own 175-acre forest. Ethan has also brought forest stewardship into the public eye through his social media accounts, where his content is viewed millions of times per month. Ethan's handle is @HowToLoveAForest.

THANKS TO OUR HOST COMMITTEE

The 2025 Keesee Awards Luncheon was co-hosted by Deane A. and John D. Gilliam, Laurie and David Hodgson, Allen P. K. Keesee, Deborah Rivel,
Margot Paul Ernst and John Ernst, Angela and Thomas W. Keesee, III, Anne Keesee Niemann and Thomas M. Niemann, Victoria Shaw, Virginia Stowe, and Lucy R. Waletzsky, M.D.