Board Member Q&A: How Birding Inspired Carolyn to take Action for Conservation

August 19, 2024

Ever wonder who’s working behind the scenes at Amazon Conservation? In addition to our incredible staff members, we also have a Board of Directors who provide their expertise and financial support to guide us on our strategic mission of empowering people, protecting wild places, and putting science and technology to work to keep the Amazon thriving.

In 2021, breast cancer specialist and passionate birder Carolyn Hendricks joined our board to expand her role as a conservationist, not only for the Amazon but for her local community members and wildlife as well. Before Amazon Conservation, Carolyn had been a part of the American Bird Conservancy and NatureServe, and currently serves as vice president for the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology. Thanks to a few friendly connections made through birding, this path has led her to join the Amazon Conservation Board.

Read on to learn more about Carolyn’s story!

Can you tell us a little about you?

I am a breast cancer specialist by profession but I have evolved into a community conservationist over the past 20 years. My passion for conservation started with birding and bird conservation. An expanding circle of birders led me to join the board of the American Bird Conservancy for nearly a decade which led to other connections and conservation board work including NatureServe. My involvement in land conservation started when my husband and I purchased 80 acres of land in southwestern Pennsylvania from the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC) and constructed a one-of-a-kind sustainable home on the property. I’m engaged in many activities centered on land stewardship with WPC including nature trail maintenance, outreach to local landowners, and wildflower plantings. I work on a local demonstration forest and serve on the board of the Woodlands Owners of the Southern Alleghenies. My birding world now includes regular raptor and grassland bird surveys, board service for the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology, and a coordinator role in the recently launched Pennsylvania 3rd Bird Atlas.

What got you interested in environmental conservation?

Working with conservation groups at the local level in southwestern Pennsylvania has incentivized me to expand my activities and support to the national and international levels. It is clear to me that enacting positive change for our environment requires a significant scale. The increasing threats that our wildlife and ecosystems are facing truly require global efforts.

How did you initially learn about Amazon Conservation?

I was introduced to Amazon Conservation by our current Board Chairman Jim Brumm who I consider a lifelong and valued friend. Our paths to conservation have crisscrossed in many ways over the years, most recently during our shared tenure as board members for Amazon Conservation. He helped me to realize that the solutions that Amazon Conservation proposes for the Amazon are extremely appealing and worthy of support: to protect wild places, empower people, and put science and technology to work.

As a Board member, what are you most impressed/proud of from Amazon Conservation?

Over the past 20 years, Amazon Conservation has evolved from a small organization conceived by our two founders to coordinate projects and fundraising for the Amazon in the US, Peru, and Bolivia. It is now a much larger, ambitious, and effective organization with multiple partners across the Amazon whose shared goal is to conserve the world’s largest rainforest which is at a tipping point. The highlight of my board service so far has been to attend a board retreat at Mashaquipe in Beni, Bolivia attended by the staff of the members of our Alliance. It provided an opportunity to meet some of the amazing people who do the work of the organization, for example, biologist Ruthmery Pillco who leads the Andean Bear Reforestation Project. She was honored shortly after our board meeting as one of National Geographic’s Emerging Explorers. I’m also impressed by the scope of the work that is being done in the MAAP program with its measurable outcomes which have been achieved by highlighting the devastation occurring in the Amazon created by deforestation and illegal gold mining.

What have you learned from being a Board Member?

Board service has provided me with a window into the complexity of the environmental problems in the Amazon and the importance of the gains that have been achieved by Amazon Conservation over the past 20 years. The territories and habitats are vast and the communities, governments, and indigenous groups that stand to benefit from the Amazon Conservation’s approaches could not be more varied. I am convinced that the work Amazon Conservation is doing is critical to the region and needs to grow and expand within a partnership framework.

Why do you think it is important to protect the Amazon rainforest?

The Amazon rainforest is arguably the most important habitat on Earth because of its critical role in our carbon cycle and the incredible diversity of the people and species that inhabit it.

What would you say to other environmentally-conscious people who want to make a difference in the Amazon and help fight climate change?

My personal choice and my recommendation for other similarly-minded individuals is to support Amazon Conservation. The gains have been tangible and there is a lot more work to be done.