About the Conservation Committee
Identifies and implements appropriate means for the AOS to promote sound ornithological science for making conservation and management decisions for birds. Among its activities are organizing symposia of conservation interest at annual meetings, helping to administer the AOS Conservation Achievement Awards, and engaging in science arbitration, which involves evaluating the science relevant to an issue and providing the results to decision-makers.
Co-Chairs
Co-Chair
Co-Chair
Members
Jeff Brawn
Anna Chalfoun
Camila Gomez
Laura Kearns
Sarah Kendrick
Alejandra Martínez-Salinas
Patty McGill
Nicole Michel
Lauren Pharr
Dan Roby
Ken Rosenberg
Kristen Ruegg
Erik Schoenborn
Stan Senner
Rose Swift
AOS Latin American/Caribbean Conservation Research Grant
The Conservation Committee of the American Ornithological Society (AOS) is dedicated to the study and conservation of migratory and resident birds throughout their full annual life cycle and supporting the research endeavors and career development of student/early-career scientists in areas with fewer opportunities for research funding.
Accordingly, the AOS Conservation Committee has initiated a small grants program to support student/early-career scientists from Latin America and the Caribbean conducting conservation-related research on either migratory or resident birds in those regions.
AOS Comments on Proposed New Rule regarding “Harm” in the Endangered Species Act
On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published in the Federal Register a proposed new rulemaking that would rescind the existing regulatory definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and gave the public until May 19, 2025, to provide comments on the proposed new rule. The proposed rule would eliminate habitat modification (including destruction or degradation) as part of what could be considered “harm” to or “take” of an ESA-listed species. The AOS Conservation Committee prepared a letter commenting on the proposed rulemaking, which was reviewed by AOS leadership, signed by President Sara Morris and Conservation Co-Chairs Jeffrey Walters and Angelina Ruiz Sánchez, and submitted to the Federal Register on May 14, 2025. The AOS comments strongly challenged this proposed new rule on scientific grounds because it would result in an enormous increase in “take” of ESA-listed animals and plants through destruction of their habitat (see AOS comment letter). As of September 30, 2025, the proposed new rule had neither been approved nor rejected (see Graham 20251 for a discussion of the legality of the proposed new rule).
1Graham, J. R. 2025. Worth a double take: The removal of “harm” from the Endangered Species Act. Ecology Law Currents 52: 15–27.
READ AOS COMMENT LETTER
Contact
If you are interested in joining the Conservation Committee as a regular or student member or otherwise get involved in its activities, contact one of the Committee co-chairs and indicate the nature of your interest.
Jeff Walters, Conservation Committee co-chair: jrwalt@vt.edu
Angelina Ruiz Sánchez, Conservation Committee co-chair: angruiz@uv.mx