Tag: #HumansofBirdsCaribbean

November 4, 2023

A Passion for Nature Conservation meets Strategic Operations Expertise in Alexia Morales, BirdsCaribbean’s New Operations Manager!

As a growing non-profit organization operating across the entire insular Caribbean, we announced in April that we were seeking an Operations Manager who could support our day-to-day operations and contribute to the strategic growth decisions that underpin our mission, projects, and programs. We were looking for a candidate whose passions for finance, efficiency, and organization were complemented by a love for conserving our region’s unique biodiversity—when we met Alexia, we immediately knew that we had the perfect match!

Alexia Morales, BirdsCaribbean Operations Manager.

Alexia Morales has over seven years of experience working in office administration. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Office Systems from the University of Puerto Rico, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Digital Marketing from NUC University. Alexia volunteers as a Social Media Manager at Conservation Opportunity, a non-profit organization that connects people with paid and volunteer opportunities in the field of environmental conservation. Alexia says, “I’m thrilled to use my skills and passion for the conservation of birds to further the mission of BirdsCaribbean.”

Alexia has always gone beyond her duties to ensure the best outcomes and productivity in her professional career, but it is what she has accomplished in her personal life that really excited us about her alignment with the BirdsCaribbean mission! Alexia is an avid birder, and three years ago, she co-founded De Pajareo, a social media initiative aimed at educating about and promoting love for Puerto Rico’s avifauna. What started with a few followers and pictures of Puerto Rico’s beautiful island birds, grew into a community of over 1,000 followers and collaborations with other nature-centered organizations, including participation in an international initiative. Speaking about her passion for showcasing the beauty and importance of birds from the island through photography, Alexia emphasizes, “After all, we take care of what we love.”

We had to take the opportunity of welcoming Alexia to chat with her about her vision for her new role, her love for conservation work, and about her birding adventures!

BC: What motivated you to join the BirdsCaribbean team?

Alexia: As I developed my passion for birds, I got the opportunity to learn about BirdsCaribbean on social media. A friend told me that they were looking for an Operations Manager. When I saw the job description and duties, I accepted the challenge and applied. And here I am, in a dream job where I can use my professional skills and passion for birds to further BirdsCaribbean’s mission!

BC: What does a typical day as BirdsCaribbean’s Operations Manager look like?

Alexia: A lot of researching—asking myself what we can do to improve our operations. Some of my main responsibilities are tracking financial transactions, bookkeeping, and maintaining up to date records; ensuring compliance with regulations; developing policies and procedures; and giving support to the many programs that we have! This position requires a strong attention to detail, good communication with a diverse workforce, managing different tasks simultaneously, and a strong passion for our mission.

BC: How does strategic operations management contribute to mission success for non-profits?

Alexia: The operations are the heart of an organization! Operations gives structure and charts a clear direction towards success and accomplishment of one’s mission. Some of the main goals of strategic operations management are to maximize efficiency within the organization, increase productivity, and ensure the delivery of high-quality service and products. For a non-profit, it’s important to ask these questions: What can we do to improve? What do we need for success? Where are our growing opportunities? Are we in compliance with regulations? That’s how an Operations Manager gets involved and takes action! The operations must be aligned with the organization’s mission—and operations will pursue all the necessary tools to fulfill the mission.

BC: How do you spend your time after a busy week of managing BirdsCaribbean’s operational processes across the region?

Alexia: I love going birding and taking pictures of our amazing avifauna, going on road trips in my beautiful Puerto Rico, and connecting with nature as it gives you peace and restoration. I love getting involved with other organization’s activities such as beach clean ups. I also like to go camping and enjoy the starry nights. Last but not least, I love to travel and appreciate birds in other countries!

BC: We’re so happy to welcome a fellow birder to the fold—we’ve got to ask—can you share one of your favorite birding experiences with us?

Alexia: For me, all the birds were once just Rock Doves, Gray Kingbirds, and Greater Antillean Grackles—I didn’t know that Puerto Rico had so many species, especially endemics! Three years ago, I went birding for the first time in Utuado, a municipality in the center of the island, and I got my first sight of a Puerto Rican Bullfinch, Puerto Rican Tody, and a Puerto Rican Screech Owl. I was amazed and happy to see them. That’s how it all began. I was so excited that I started to do bird counts at home and found out that over 40 species of birds visited my backyard. I was very impressed. I recommend this activity to everyone as I consider it as the very best therapy.

The BirdsCaribbean team is thrilled to welcome Alexia to our flock!

Enjoy Alexia’s beautiful photography below. You can see more of Alexia’s work at De Pajareo on Instagram and Facebook!

Mangrove Cuckoo, Salinas, Puerto Rico. (Alexia Morales)

Yellow-shouldered Blackbird, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. Endemic, Endangered species. (Alexia Morales)

Great Egret, Fajardo, Puerto Rico. (Alexia Morales)

July 12, 2023

Meet Christel Mohammed – Seabird Lover, Multidisciplinary Creative, and BirdsCaribbean’s New Communications Manager!

Earlier in April we announced that we were looking for a new Communications Manager to oversee BirdsCaribbean’s communications, marketing, and public relations efforts to raise awareness and support for our mission, projects, and programs. We received applications from some of the best communications professionals from the Caribbean making our task in selecting just one extremely difficult. But ultimately we decided that Christel Mohammed was the right fit for us.

Christel Mohammed, BirdsCaribbean Communications Manager.

Christel Mohammed is a multidisciplinary communications professional with a Master of Science in Marketing from Heriott-Watt University and Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts from the University of the West Indies. She is a national of the twin-island country of Trinidad and Tobago. She has just under a decade of experience working in communications for environmental, sustainability and developmental projects with the government of Trinidad and Tobago, which is where she developed a passion for communications as a tool for development.

Before joining BirdsCaribbean she served as the Corporate Communications Officer in the Ministry of Planning and Development. In her role there, she promoted mangrove and seagrass conservation with the Institute of Marine Affairs; supported the Ministry in championing national development strategies; promoted information technology offshoring in Trinidad and Tobago as part of the Global Services Promotion Program; and led design for national and regional branding projects. She is a communications professional with a flair for the creative—her skills extend beyond communications strategy to video production and hosting; design and brand development; and creative direction. She especially loves applying those skills to science communication and public education projects!

Christel believes that the narratives we consume shape how we think, make decisions, and interface with the world—empowering people to make better informed decisions for themselves and the planet through communications is what drives her.

For this blog we decided to sit down with Christel to find out what life is like working in communications and what she does in her down time.

BC: What does a typical day as a communications manager involve?

Christel: It’s early yet to say what a typical day here is going to look like. Right now I’m getting oriented to the vast network of BirdsCaribbean, and appreciating all the ways in which BirdsCaribbean continues to conserve our islands’ biodiversity through regional capacity building, sponsoring citizen science programs, funding research, delivering educational campaigns for all ages, hosting vibrant festivals, and so much more! So far it’s been a whirlwind of meetings, research, content development, communications auditing and planning, and as always with comms—editing, editing, editing!

BC: Why is science communication important for NGOs?

Christel: Our natural heritage belongs to everyone, and we all have a role in protecting it, but that idea is only meaningful when information about the issues that threaten our environment is clear and accessible to everyone. Science communication is critical for NGOs, particularly those of us who work in conservation, because it’s the vehicle that allows this work to be inclusive and empowering. It enables people to understand and take ownership of the challenges we face, develop home-grown solutions, and advocate for better representation by our leaders. It’s also a vital tool that gives a voice to our species and helps us appreciate the threats that they face.

BC: What is the best part of your job?

Christel: I think about the question of how we make things—our environment, our societies, our lives—better, a lot. It really matters to me that what I do has value and contributes positively to our world. The best part of my job is simply that with BirdsCaribbean, I’m supporting meaningful and necessary work, and I’m deeply happy to be part of such a dynamic and impactful team.

BC: When you’re not busy developing high impact communications strategies what are you doing?

Christel: I love reading and creating; I’ve been an artist all my life and simply couldn’t exist without having some ongoing creative project. No surprise here, but I’m also a birder and would unreservedly recommend it to anyone—it is the absolute best way to cultivate awe, presence, and peace.

BC: Finally, we have to ask, what is your favorite bird?

Christel: Gosh it has to be the bird that got me into birding – the Red-billed Tropicbird! In 2015 I had the happy accident of wandering into birding in the most spectacular way. I signed up for a tour of Little Tobago largely for the experience of snorkeling in the beautiful reefs off of the island. The tour included a trail walk and as luck would have it, this was at the peak of the breeding season of the Red-Billed Tropicbird. We got to the lookout point at the top of the hill and that was the moment—I heard it before I saw it—two sheer cliff faces stretched out on either side of me with a mind-blowing mass of nesting tropicbirds dotting both cliffs. It sounds silly, but it was the most birds I had ever seen and the scale was wondrous to me. In front of me over the ocean the activity was also epic—Magnificent Frigatebirds wrestling the tropicbirds for their catches! Experiencing the pure awe of that moment and learning about the behaviors of the different birds kicked off a fascination that I haven’t lost since!

Let’s extend a hearty Caribbean welcome to Christel!

April 21, 2019

Happy 80th Birthday to our wonderful Kate Wallace!

The following birthday announcement is brought to you by…

Presidente, a refreshing brand of Pilsner beer proudly brewed in the Dominican Republic since 1935

and…

The Solenodon Crochet Company, a family owned and operated business out of Rabo de Gato known for high quality, hand-crafted crochet animals

Loving shout-outs, warm well-wishes, and funny anecdotes from your friends around the Caribbean and beyond:

Kate Wallace is a living legend in the Dominican Republic. With much enthusiasm, passion and energy, she has done so much to advance ornithology, bird education, and bird tourism in the DR.

For those that may not know her history: Kate arrived to the DR 24 years ago with the Peace Corps and has worked as a volunteer for BirdsCaribbean, Sociedad Ornitologica de la Hispaniola, Grupo Jaragua, and Grupo Acción Ecológica. Her formal education is teaching, and as a field naturalist, bird education came natural to her. At her house one can see drawings from the 1980’s all over the walls, including pictures done by school children learning how to draw birds. There is also a colorful bird rotofolio to give talks (“charlas”) about birds when there is no electricity, a frequent condition out in the countryside.

Over the years Kate has worked with many researchers and students such as Steve Latta, Chris Rimmer, and Justin Proctor, to name a few, generously helping them with whatever they needed—providing a place to stay in Santo Domingo and organizing help in the field and other logistics. Kate has been a key person in getting the Caribbean Waterbird Census going in the DR, and has organized and helped with countless bird education events for the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival and World Migratory Bird Day, as well as BirdSleuth Caribbean. Kate also developed her own bird tourism company, Tody Tours, and has a fabulous “camp” up in the Sierra de Bahoruco mountains so that people can experience the incredible birds and beauty of this region.

When you walk down the streets of the Colonial Zone with Kate, she is greeted by everyone. The day we went to the Ministry of the Environment, she was treated like royalty. Greetings from different people included, “I took the course you coordinated!” “Hi Katy, how are you? I know you from the workshops!” and “Hi Kate, after our bird club, now I work for the ministry.” Even out in the countryside, people wave to Kate as she drives by shouting “Katy, Katy” with a big smile! If you say to her, “Kate, you didn’t tell us you were famous,” she cheerfully responds, “I didn’t know I was!”

Kate is also fearless—the WORST roads in the world are in the DR and they are not an impediment to Kate and her mission. I have been with Kate when a rock fell from a passing truck on to our windshield – it sounded like a bomb and the windshield shattered into a million pieces, embedding some tiny fragments of glass into my skin. Another time, in pursuit of birds, we drove across a stretch of flooded, washed out road with a river running over it that nearly swept our car away! Both experiences were terrifying (to me), but were all in a day’s work for Kate!!!

Kate absolutely loves being a part of the conservation movement in the DR and, at 80, she still wants to do more for birds! Kate inspires us to keep working…and keep giving. She just registered for the upcoming BirdsCaribbean conference in Guadeloupe, and we can’t wait to see her there. In the meantime, we plan on celebrating her 80th birthday with a tall, cold beer—her favorite, El Presidente!!! Happy Birthday Kate, we love you!!!

– Lisa Sorenson and Sheylda Diaz-Mendez and the BirdsCaribbean Board

Over the course of 5 years of field work, Kate helped make the Dominican Republic a second home for us. She welcomed us into her Santo Domingo apartment, even providing a room for Jason to stash his many bins of field gear! Kate showed us around Santo Domingo, introduced us to birding spots, directed us to secluded natural areas, and let us camp at her Rabo de Gato property whenever we came down the north side of the Sierra de Bahoruco. She also introduced us to everyone and everything related to birds on the island, and never asked for anything in return except the occasional jug of maple syrup, brought in from the old country!

Kate’s influence on birdwatching and conservation in the DR is enormous. On her 80^th we wish her many more years of continued success and positive influence. We wish we could be there for a couple of Presidentes with Kate!

– Jason and Andrea Townsend

Happy Birthday Kate! We can never thank you enough for having been so much help and giving so much of your time and warm hospitality when we were in the DR. Your passion and dedication are an inspiration. We’ve been showing videos and photos of the work with cua and gavilan to our boys lately and we miss the birds, and you, a lot. Hope you have a lovely and wonderful day surrounded by many friends! All our love!

– Lance and Rina

Saludos a Dona Kate on your 80th birthday!

We are SO HAPPY that you stumbled into Joe Wunderle, Esteban Terranova, and me in Jarabacoa many years ago, and that your service to Dominican ornithology was launched.

Thank you for being our host, our field help, our eyes and ears, our recorder of data and histories, our annotator of records.

Thank you for being our networker, and introducing so many of us to each other.

Thank you for bringing ecotourism with style to the Sierra de Bahoruco.

Thank you for being you, and keeping that Kate attitude!

And most of all, thank you for being our friend!

Un abrazo,

– Steven Latta

A Birthday Shout-Out to Kate! Happy Birthday to the Silent Auction Queen! Thank you for all you’ve done to support BirdsCaribbean over the years!

– Jennifer Wheeler

Would like to add my birthday wishes to Kate Wallace. We have worked together on the Silent Auction for a few years and have also roomed together several times – still friends.

My Bird Club of New Providence (Bahamas) did Kate’s tour in 2010 which was amazing, she is a great tour guide and ambassador for the birds of the region.

Kind regards from Nassau, Bahamas,

– Carolyn Wardle

Kate has been an important part of my training in the world of birds, I am very grateful to have known her.

Once we were in a Christmas Count in Bani, for the Waterfowl and at lunchtime she told us that she felt calm in the local restaurant because the dishes had flower paintings, which in the restaurants that put white dishes without designs was very expensive, hahahaha.

In the festivals of endemic birds I teach how to draw any bird in 4 simple steps: a circle for the torso, a circle for the head, two lines are the legs and a triangle is the peak. Ready, you have your bird.

There are many things you can meet with a person with so much experience and way of being. Thank you Kate Wallace for your love of the birds of my country.

– Johanna Rodriguez Paulino

Kate,

Happy Birthday – can’t believe it’s your 80th, but congratulations for your many contributions to bird conservation and environmental education in the DR and throughout the Caribbean, all contributed with good cheer. Your willingness to assist with the silent auctions for BirdsCaribbean has helped raise badly needed funds for BC. I don’t know where the time went, but it seems like only yesterday when you came up to Jarabacoa to join Steve and the “Ciguetaros” in our coffee study. Your infectious enthusiasm was a shot in the arm for us and eventually to bird conservation and environmental education in the DR. Hope I can celebrate with you in Guadeloupe in July. Much to discuss I’m sure. In the meantime, all the best on an important birthday!!

Cheers,

– Joe Wunderle

I will say about Kate… she is a character and one for the history books. While Annabelle Stockton (Dod) made the birds of the DR and Haiti available for all through her newspaper articles and guide, Kate Wallace was responsible for promoting the birds of the DR and Haiti, helping researchers do their work, and helping form a whole generation of bird lovers in the DR. Her commitment to the conservation of birds is undeniable. She established the first hostal designed exclusively for birdwatchers in this country. She has witnessed how a few local bird watchers have transcended to become accomplished bird photographers. Here are a few of my favorite moments when I think of Kate:

Kate instructed Danilo Mejia once to buy a used SUV for her. He found one and used a mechanic friend of his to make all the necessary repairs before Kate even saw the vehicle. When Danilo was about to deliver it, he thought it needed a “Hati Guallace” special something that would make it hers, so he had a tinted paper placed on the upper part of the windshield that read “LLEGÓ KATY”.

Kate’s eternal response to whether she had seen birds on any given outing was always… “miliones de aves”. She would also unknowingly make these yummy noises when she ate… “hmmm… muy buena”. So I travelled with two good friends around Lago Enriquillo and after a couple of days of imitating Kate’s “miliones de aves” and “hmmm… muy buena” we arrived at the Hotel Iguana in La Descubierta. We met the owner at the front door of the house, next to which there was a closed window that hid the hotel’s dining table. We could not see beyond the window as the panes where shut. We asked the owner if there was vacancy and a second later we heard a voice through the closed window. “Hmmm… muy buena!” It was Kate who coincidentally was having dinner with some birders. Of course my two companions only knew Kate by my imitations of her savoring her beloved Dominican food.

A Kate Wallace fact: Kate is a very nice person until 5pm rolls around, at which time it is imperative to provide immediately a Jumbo-sized Presidente “vestida de novia” (frosted). If the Presidente is not provided immediately, she will turn into werewolf.

With much love,

– Eladio Fernandez

Happy birthday, Kate! Wow, 80! Congratulations on this milestone. We are sorry that we aren’t around to celebrate with you. I remember your 75th birthday party, dancing and partying on the street with you!

And there are so many wonderful memories we have with you of birding adventures. We have quite a few photos but want to send you a few for memory’s sake.

We want you to know how much we love and appreciate you, Kate, and we will celebrate your birthday with you, although from a distance.

Love,

– Steve & Sandra

Please send Kate my warmest regards and a Happy Birthday! shout out.

– Wayne Arendt

The day we visited Ebano Blanco reserve, while training guides for the Caribbean Birding Trail, a rooster ripped Kate’s pants! I have no idea what that rooster was thinking Kate would do, but It was just amazing to watch her, calmly but cautiously, regaining her balance after the “attack”. Strong message that the rooster will never forget! Kate your patient, diaphanous speech, and overall passion for bird conservation truly inspired me!

Happy Birthday “desde Panama”

– Beny Wilson

Kate, it has been A LOT OF FUN becoming good friends with you over the past 9 years. I feel like those of us that have extensively wandered the back woods of the DR looking for birds together share a special bond. There’s just nothin’ else like it!

Thank you SO MUCH for all your warm hospitality over the years, and most importantly, for all the great laughs and fun adventures along the way. You have been a big inspiration to me, and so many others, and you should be proud of that!

All my best,

– Justin Proctor