Please join us for the annual AFO Members Meeting next month on Tuesday, May 14th from 2-3:30pm Eastern Time. We have an informative agenda that will update members on recent AFO accomplishments. Following the meeting we will be treated to a fun presentation by AFO Communications and Marketing Specialist, Agustina Torretta. She will present: “Saffron-cowled Blackbird Project: A translator’s gateway to the conservation world.”
Registration is required for the meeting:
Members Meeting Agenda
- Grants Program
- Introducing JFO co-EIC Dr. Rafael Rueda Hernandez
- Avinet update
- Election of Officers and Counsilors
- 2024 Peoria meeting update
- 2025 AFO meeting plans
Nominations Report
The AFO nominations committee recommends the following slate of officers and new/returning councilors. Three people are nominated to fill partial terms left open by councilors needing to step down or agreeing to serve on the Executive Committee. These new individuals are welcome to serve two full terms after fulfilling the term left vacant. Two additional researchers are nominated to join the councilor class of 2027.
Biographies for the new councilors are below. All individuals accepted the nominations and have agreed to serve if elected.
Slate of officers:
President: Matthew Shumar
Vice President: Rebecka Brasso
Secretary: L. Scott Johnson
Treasurer: Sarah Sargent
Council Class of 2025:
Evan Jackson (filling a vacancy)
Keith Andringa (filling a vacancy)
Council Class of 2026:
Maria Andreina Pacheco (filling a vacancy)
Council Class of 2027:
Igor Berkunsky
David Cerasale (second term)
Natasza Fontaine
Cecilia Kopuchian (second term)
Jessica Hightower (second term)
Biographies for Nominated New Councilors:
Keith Andringa
PhD Candidate
Texas A&M University
Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology
Keith is a PhD candidate in the Grace Lab at Texas A&M University. His dissertation investigates microplastic consumption in marshbirds and songbirds, and includes determination of best methods for quantifying ingested microplastics, comparisons of ingestion rates across species, and implications of microplastics and mercury contamination for avian health.
B.S. (Wildlife and Fisheries Science) – Texas A&M University
Igor Berkunsky
Investigador/Research Scientist
ECOSISTEMAS, UNCPBA-CONICET
Instituto Multidisciplinario sobre Ecosistemas y Desarrollo Sustentable
Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires
Paraje Arroyo Seco s/n, Tandil (7000), Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
Igor is a research scientist at CONICET and a professor at Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires and Universidad Nacional de La Plata. His research centers on developing conservation tools for threatened bird (and other) species in Southern South America. He is interested in increasing the reproductive output of grassland birds. His questions explore the interface between habitat use, predation ecology, nesting behavior, and breeding biology. He is studying threatened grassland birds, including the Pampas Meadowlark and the Hudson’s Canastero.
B.S. (Biological Sciences, Ecology) – Universidad Nacional de La Plata
Ph.D. (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) – Universidad Nacional de La Plata
Natasza Fontaine
Natasza holds a Master of Science in Biology from Florida State University. Her thesis focused on how avian species richness relates to plant species composition and vegetation structure during non-breeding seasons. After completing her degree, Natasza worked as an avian field biologist in the Southeast and the Southwest and has volunteer experience in South America. Currently, she is a shorebird/seabird biologist for Audubon Florida, based in the Florida Panhandle. She is interested in understanding habitat associations for migratory species, bioacoustics, and bioacoustic monitoring. She is an avid avian recordist and a natural science illustrator. Additionally, she is a visiting biology professor at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Her course, Sound and Color, focuses on exploring the biodiversity of birds and plants through a creative lens.
B.A. (Visual Arts) – Norfolk State University
M.A. (Communications) – New York Institute of Technology
M.S. (Biological Sciences) – Florida State University
Evan Jackson
Raptor specialist
Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and
Adjunct faculty
Division of Natural Sciences
University of Maine at Farmington
Evan works with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, primarily with raptors. He is also adjunct faculty at the University of Maine at Farmington, where he teaches a variety of biology and ecology courses, including Avian Ecology, Introduction to Ecology, and Climate Change in New England.
Currently his research involves assessing the status of state endangered Golden Eagles in Maine and ongoing monitoring and assessment of Peregrine Falcons in the state. He also has been involved with the second Breeding Bird Atlas of Maine. Past research has included the effects of habitat fragmentation on several species of Central American hummingbirds and community response to climate change under differing forest management.
B.S. (Biology: Ecology, Evolution and Behavior) – University of New Hampshire
M.S. (Forest Ecosystems and Society) – Oregon State University
Maria Andreina Pacheco
Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
Institute for Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine (iGEM)
Temple University
Maria is an Assistant Professor (Research) in the Department of Biology/Institute for Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine (iGEM) at Temple University. Her academic and professional interests are avian ecophysiology and evolutionary biology and her research has focused on understanding the evolution of haemosporidian parasites and their hosts, especially in birds. She applies phylogenetic and molecular clock methods to understand host switches and the radiation of avian haemosporidian parasite groups. Maria is also interested in phylogenetics and the rate and mode of evolution of the mitochondrial genome in birds and their haemosporidian parasites.
