River Gates

River (she/her/hers) is the Pacific Shorebird Conservation Initiative Coordinator with Audubon Alaska and National Audubon Society.

River joined Audubon in 2017 and has more than 20 years of experience in leading international shorebird conservation and research projects in the Pacific and East Asian-Australasian Flyways. She earned her M.S. in wildlife conservation from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2011, studying the breeding and migration ecology of Dunlin. River co-created the Pacific Americas Shorebird Conservation Strategy and serves as the coordinator for the partnership.

She advises shorebird conservation programs more broadly through her service on the following executive councils: U.S. Shorebird Conservation Partnership, Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network’s Hemispheric Council, and Western Hemisphere Shorebird Group.