Photo: Streambed cleanup, Tina Dudley
Tina Dudley
Professor Tom Wood and Bill Young, Tina Dudley
At ASNV’s Volunteer Appreciation and Service Event on October 22, board member Judy Gallagher presented Bill Young with the Volunteer of the Year award. Board member Tom Wood then presented Bill with a beautiful handmade shirt from Hawaii, featuring native honeycreepers. Proceeds from sale of the shirts go to conserving native Hawaiian flora and fauna. Bill has an amazing collection of bird-themed shirts that he wears for each program.
You may know Bill Young from participating in one of his many educational programs, such as his recent 6-part series on the climate crisis. Bill has donated hundreds of hours of his time to teach programs for ASNV members, refusing any compensation. Since 2020 his programs have brought in over $13,500 in revenue and reached over 550 participants!
Anyone who has taken a program with Bill knows that he does his research - often for months - and develops a program that is interesting, educational, and hopeful. His array of webinars and workshops goes beyond bird identification with courses such as “Birds and Words,” Birds and Culture,” and “Birds as Symbols,” all of which remind us about the immense power birds have for us.
Bill’s most recent program, “Understanding the Climate Crisis with Bill Young,” provided an in-depth look at the science behind the issue, covering topics such as greenhouse gases, the role of fossil fuels in the crisis, alternative energy sources, proposals for removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, effects on wildlife and biodiversity, sectors of the economy affecting the crisis, and the politics and economics of the crisis. The final session, which you can watch here for free, was open to all and featured a discussion of what each of us can do to combat climate change. If you missed the other sessions of the program you can purchase the Climate Change program, as well as Bill’s Sparrow Identification and Identifying Warblers programs from our online store.
In addition to teaching programs for us, Bill has a successful youtube channel (with over one million views!), he wrote a book called The Fascination of Birds, and he maintains an amazing website about Monticello Park.
Before the award ceremony, more than 25 ASNV volunteers picked up trash along the Four Mile Run and Long Branch streams in Glencarlyn Park, scrambling over rocks, descending steep embankments and climbing over trees to get at difficult-to-remove scraps of plastic and styrofoam. Volunteers from all of ASNV’s major initiatives attended, and one of our Audubon at Home volunteers even decided to tackle some offending invasive plants along the streambank.
After accepting his award, Bill remarked that his motivation for volunteering comes from a desire to protect nature - believing that when people understand it better, they will be moved to protect it. We believe all our volunteers share that same hope - that by working together we can educate people in our region about the environment and motivate our communities to enjoy, protect, and conserve our natural resources.
Picking up trash in the streambed, Tina Dudley
Our volunteers’ contributions are many and volunteering serves them in many ways. Some want to stay active as they age, others are looking to build more social connections, while others are motivated to give back locally after finishing careers abroad. Some volunteers want to learn more about birds and wildlife while others want to teach. Here at ASNV we are lucky to benefit from a great diversity of volunteers who come from all walks of life. Whether you donate an hour or two, or lead a whole project - your volunteering makes a difference.
The entire board and staff of ASNV would like to thank Bill Young for generously donating his time and intellect. Bill, your programs have made our community stronger. You are an inspiration.
Thank you to all of our volunteers - your work is how we implement our mission. We couldn’t do this without YOU! If you would like to become a part of our amazing community of volunteers, sign up here.