Partners in Flight (PIF) Awards recognize exceptional contributions to the field of landbird conservation in the Americas in the categories of Leadership, Investigations, Public Awareness, Stewardship, and the David N. Pashley Lifetime Achievement Award.
Leadership
Honors an individual or group that demonstrates outstanding guidance and direction that contributes, or has contributed to, advancing PIF conservation efforts.
Adrianne Tossas
Adrianne, from Puerto Rico, President of BirdsCaribbean, has been selected to receive an Individual Partners in Flight Leadership Award for almost three decades of promoting conservation of bird species in Puerto Rico and throughout the Caribbean region through research, education, and advocacy. Adrianne developed her career in challenging times, building a distinguished record of professional accomplishments showing strong leadership, resiliency, and adaptability. She was one of the founding members of the Puerto Rican Ornithological Society and initiated and coordinated the Important Birds Areas program in Puerto Rico. She became an active member of BirdsCaribbean in 1999, then Director-At-Large, initiating the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival. As President of BirdsCaribbean, she has developed the new Landbird Monitoring program and initiated a Caribbean Motus Collaboration and the Caribbean Bird Banding Network. In addition, she worked as adjunct faculty of the University of Puerto Rico, Aguadilla, with 200 undergraduate students in the Avian Ecology and Conservation Project, and published the book Aves de Puerto Rico Para Niños.
William (Bill) G. Vermillion
Bill, Bird Conservation Specialist with the Gulf Coast Joint Venture (GCJV), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has been selected to receive an Individual Partners in Flight Leadership Award for a career of contributions to landbird conservation through partnerships from Texas through Alabama. Bill has exemplified consistent and substantial contributions toward PIF priority birds and habitats over his entire career spanning municipal, state, and federal government, concluding with the last 18 years as the GCJV science lead for landbirds. He significantly influenced the state of science and the habitat delivery for these bird guilds, successfully implementing key steps in the evolution of a formerly waterfowl-centric joint venture toward fully integrated bird conservation with linkages to all relevant national/international bird plans. Specifically, Bill led the development of population and habitat objectives for priority landbirds that use grasslands (LeConte’s Sparrow, Loggerhead Shrike, and Northern Bobwhite) and brackish/saline marsh (Seaside Sparrow) and collaborated on habitat prioritization for coastal forest species (Cerulean, Golden-winged, and Swainson’s Warblers).
Public Awareness
Honors an individual or group that contributes significantly to increasing the public’s awareness and appreciation for birds, their habitats, or the need for conservation.
Michael (Mike) Rizo
Mike, Social Science Advisor for the Office of International Programs, U.S. Forest Service, has been selected to receive an Individual Partners in Flight Public Awareness Award for working to raise awareness of birds and their conservation in diverse urban communities in the U.S. and Mexico. Although Mike’s work ranges from wildlife and water conservation to social justice and gender equality, he has developed strong community-based bird conservation programs, and has been a leader in developing collaborations across borders, connecting the U.S., Canada, and Mexico in bird conservation education. Mike’s success revolves around his dedication to fostering partnerships, mentoring emerging conservation leaders, providing guidance to developing conservation organizations, and championing the engagement of diverse participants. Examples include: Programa de Aves Urbanas, engaging communities across Mexico; Migratory and Urban Bird Institute, a workshop for educators who work with youth to study urban and migratory birds; and El Valor, a community-based organization in Chicago that serves children, adults with disabilities, and families.
David N. Pashley Lifetime Achievement
An individual who has made outstanding contributions, consistently over the entirety of his or her career of 15 or more years, to advancing PIF’s mission, bird conservation efforts for PIF priority birds and habitats, and/or through PIF’s various committees or working groups.
Miguel Angel Cruz-Nieto
Miguel, from Mexico, has been selected to receive a posthumous Individual Partners in Flight David N. Pashley Lifetime Achievement Award for his life-long community-based wildlife and bird conservation, habitat conservation and restoration, and work with endangered and flagship species. His untimely death in 2023 ended a fruitful career in conservation, particularly bird conservation, in Mexico. He served as Director of Conservation with Pronatura Noreste, where he was responsible for the Ecoregional Conservation Programs of the Chihuahuan Desert and Sierra Madre Occidental. He conducted technical studies and developed management plans for over 10 protected natural areas. Miguel had extensive experience designing projects related to endangered and charismatic bird species such as Worthen’s Sparrow, Thick-billed Parrot, and Golden Eagle. He achieved innovations in land protection, acquiring grazing, water, and logging rights, creating private reserves, and payments for environmental services. Miguel’s legacy will persist through the many projects, organizations, and people whom he touched and with whom he collaborated. “Yes, you can.”
Jim Chu
Jim, Natural Resource Specialist (Retired) for the Migratory Species Program, Office of International Programs, U.S. Forest Service, has been selected to receive an Individual Partners in Flight David N. Pashley Lifetime Achievement Award for his two decades of full-life-cycle grassland bird conservation across the Western Hemisphere. Jim’s grassland conservation work involved close communication and cooperation with partners, fostered through visits to important conservation sites and supervision of partner grants. He engaged with many grassland conservation initiatives, including The Nature Conservancy’s wintering grassland birds in northern Mexico, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies’ Sustainable Grazing Network, BirdLife International’s Southern Cone Grasslands Alliance, Asociación Calidris in Colombia, and Asociación Armonía in Bolivia. Jim promoted migratory bird conservation on U.S. National Grasslands, worked with the USFS National Grasslands Managers Association, and provided leadership to the GrasslandsLIVE distance learning program. One of his long-term contributions has been mentoring new colleagues and seeking resources for Latin Americans to participate in U.S. trainings, meetings, festivals, and internships.
See more 2023 PIF Awards content in our Conservation Resource Library: