Collaborations Taking Flight
Birds Across Borders
PhD Science instructor (Dr. Jennifer-Campbell Smith) is a falconer, illustrator, and polymath. She has a dream of taking the 9,000+ species of birds in the world and collaborating with students in any country to create an open-source website whereby we take one bird at a time. We will start with crows and:
- Collect scientific data, (anatomy of flight, global warming, infinite possibilities)
- Dive deeply into the cultures they fly over and in
- Compose poetry and songs with the help of indigenous peoples
- Professionally publish stories
“Crows Connecting Nations” LINK
A STEM high school students wrote this:
Around the world, birds influence our lives, cultures, and connections to one another. While humanity divides itself by political and cultural borders, birds don’t see these human divisions, but instead see a unified and connected natural world. Why shouldn’t humanity do the same? Birds Across Borders is an initiative to bring together students, teachers, and professionals from around the world for a singular purpose: to build a better, more connected world through our passion of modern-day dinosaurs. The program is a grass-roots initiative working with schools, community centers, local governments, creative studios, independent researchers, and other organizations to empower students around the world to connect with one another, professionals, and their environment. Birds Across Borders will raise awareness about endangered avian species, foster kinder relationships and understanding between human communities and other species living alongside them, and encourage people to explore the field of ornithology. Using a website we have developed as a hub, we will keep our community updated on project initiatives, ornithological research, creative projects by our members, and other cross-cultural and cross-curricular studies on different avian species and topics. We envision a place where a student from one country can connect with students from other places and find common ground thanks to a shared interest and experience with different bird species.
Above: Monse (Chacala, Nayarit, Mexico) painted this after just one meeting withBirds Across Borders.
The photo above is from the first Birds Across Borders meeting between students from Belmopan, Belize.
One Voice 4 Change went to Belize learn and build relationships with students, mentors, and an organization called Pathlight International.
