Mass Audubon Birders Meeting

Since 1992, birders from across New England have come together to attend Mass Audubon's annual Birders Meeting. The program combines expert presentations, a vendor marketplace, and the presentation of the Hemenway + Hall Conservation Award, creating a unique opportunity to learn, connect, and celebrate the many ways birds inspire conservation action for bird researchers, educators, and enthusiasts alike.

2026 Birders Meeting

Saturday, March 14 • 9:00 am-3:45 pm
(doors open at 8:30 am)

Hogan Campus Center, College of the Holy Cross
Worcester, MA

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Wired for Flight: Technology and Triumphs in Bird Conservation

As the natural world undergoes rapid transformation, technology is becoming an essential tool for understanding and protecting bird populations. From satellite tracking and AI-powered identification apps to acoustic monitoring and community science platforms, innovation is reshaping how we study and conserve birds. This year’s Birders Meeting will explore the intersection of birding, technology, and conservation—and how each of us can help birds thrive in a changing world.

Speakers

Scott Weidensaul

Scott Weidensaul is the author of nearly 30 books on natural history, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist "Living on the Wind" and his New York Times bestseller "A World on the Wing." His latest book, Return of the Oystercatcher, coming in April 2026, showcases what’s working for bird conservation around the world. Weidensaul is a contributing editor for Audubon magazine, a columnist for Bird Watcher’s Digest, and writes for a variety of other publications including Living Bird. He is a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society and an active field researcher, studying saw-whet owl migration for 30 years, as well as winter hummingbirds in the East, bird migration in Alaska, and the winter movements of snowy owls through Project SNOWstorm, which he co-founded.

Eliot Miller, PhD

Eliot is a staff member at the American Bird Conservancy (ABC). Previously, Eliot was at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, where he was a Schmidt Futures AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellow and worked closely with the Merlin Sound Identification team. He also worked with the Macaulay Library where he was part of the initial development of Merlin sound ID and had the opportunity to teach eBird and Merlin workshops in Latin America and Africa. Eliot is developing ABC’s BirdsPlus Index tool and coordinating pilot projects. Eliot holds a Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics from the University of Missouri and the Macquarie University in Australia.

Rebeca Linhart

Rebeca Linhart is a PhD candidate in the Natural Resources Science department at URI. She studies arctic breeding shorebirds throughout the Western Hemisphere and aims to better understand their flight pathways and use of coastal habitats to aid in conservation. The goal of her work is to create highly applicable conservation recommendations both locally and throughout the hemisphere to mitigate the rapid declines being seen in shorebird populations.

Michael Hallworth, PhD

Mike is a wildlife ecologist who takes a full annual cycle approach to understand the interplay between the environment and population demography. He is a conservation and data scientist at Vermont Center for Ecostudies. Before joining VCE, Mike served as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies and the Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center. He completed his PhD in Environmental Science & Public Policy at George Mason University in conjunction with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. He received a BS and MS in Biology at Plymouth State University.

Breakout sessions led by Gino Ellision, Samuel Zhang, Joel Eckerson, and the Saltmarsh Sparrow Research Initiative.

Full program to be announced late winter.

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