The 2023 annual meeting of the Wilson Ornithological Society will take place on June 20–23, 2023. The conference will be available for both in-person and virtual attendance, with the in-person meeting taking place at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

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Slow Birding as a Path to an Inclusive Birding Community
Bridget Butler (aka The Bird Diva, birddiva@gmail.com), Liza Morse (liza.morse@uvm.edu), Maddie Sutton (madisonosutton@gmail.com), Nicholas Russo (njrusso202@gmail.com)

Friday, June 23, 9am–12pm EDT
Pay as you are able ($10 or free); sign-up required at registration

What would a more inclusive birding community look and feel like? Join slow birder Bridget Butler, aka The Bird Diva, for a workshop to explore opportunities to create a more inclusive birding community and birding experiences. Over the past few years, the birding community has begun to recognize that we too have much work to do when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Many of us are realizing that there are a variety of barriers that need to come down in order to grow into a community that cares about both birds and people.

During this workshop, Bridget will share her experience with slow birding as a way to shed some of the entrenched birding stereotypes and create a space where everyone is a birder regardless of knowledge, experience, or motivation. We’ll look at how we can shift and open our birding intention in order to be more welcoming and lay a broad foundation for belonging. This workshop will be partly indoors as we engage in a discussion of belonging and inclusion through the lens of slow birding and then move outside to practice slow birding strategies for observing birds in community with each other.