Keith Russell (ornithologist) facts for kids
Keith Russell is an American expert who loves birds! He is an ornithologist, which means he studies birds. He is also a birder, someone who enjoys watching birds. Keith is a science communication|science communicator, sharing his knowledge with others, and a conservationist, working to protect nature. He comes from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Keith is a big helper for birds. He works to make windows safer so that migrating songbirds do not fly into them. This helps to reduce the number of birds that get hurt or die in cities. He is currently the program manager for urban conservation for Pennsylvania Audubon. This means he helps protect nature in cities for birds.
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Keith Russell: A Bird Protector
Growing Up and Learning
Keith Russell grew up in a neighborhood called Mount Airy in northwest Philadelphia. He finished school at Germantown Friends School in 1973.
He went to Cornell University and earned a degree in biology in 1978. Biology is the study of living things. Later, he earned another degree in zoology from Clemson University in 1981. Zoology is the study of animals.
His Work with Birds
From 1982 to 1992, Keith worked at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. He was a collections manager for their exhibits. This means he helped take care of the items shown in the museum.
He also worked as an assistant editor for a very important book. The book was called The Birds of North America. He worked on it from 1992 to 2003. Frank Gill was the main editor.
Awards and Recognition
For more than 30 years, Keith Russell has helped organize the Philadelphia Mid-winter Bird Census. A bird census is like a count of birds. People go out and count how many birds they see in an area.
Because of his great work, the American Birding Association gave him a special award. In 2016, he received the Ludlow Griscom Award. This award is for people who make outstanding contributions to studying birds in a region.
