Q & A: Anna Weinstein
Anna Weinstein
Anna Weinstein is Audubon California’s Seabird Conservation Coordinator. Working out of our Emeryville office, she is building a new initiative to protect and restore the diverse array of seabirds in California and the North Pacific – which include some of the Pacific Coast’s most fascinating and important species. One of the key goals of this new program is to raise the public’s awareness of the importance of these birds that are rarely seen, but are nonetheless vital to our marine ecosystems.
What drew you to Audubon, and how long have you been working here?
I've been a member on and off since the age of 10 or so. Recently I noticed the depth and breadth of Audubon's work in California, where I have lived for many years, and wanted to join the team. I've been at the Emeryville office since October, as seabird conservation coordinator.
What’s your favorite bird?
It's a battle between the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker - for obvious reasons - and the Laysan Albatross. Albatrosses are an evolutionary work of art, so perfectly adapted for life in a difficult environment, the world's oceans. The Laysan is one of three species of Albatross that occur in our region, the North Pacific.
Where is your favorite place to enjoy the outdoors?
That's tough. Here in California, it would have to be desert spring areas, such as Anza Borrega State Park or Death Valley National Monument. I'm so taken with the extraordinary adaptations of desert plants and animals to an extreme environment. Just look at desert pupfish – they tolerate extreme temperatures and salinities. You stick your finger into the hot water, see fish, and it makes no sense. I also love vernal pools and seabird breeding islands. But really, it's impossible to pick one place, the state is so large and diverse. Lately I take my kids on a three-mile hike in Tilden Park, which goes through several of the Bay Area's famous microclimates, and where we often see Varied Thrush, hummingbirds, California newts, and wood rats in the space of a quarter mile.
Does your background (educational and otherwise) relate to conservation and birds? Or is it something you came to later on, unexpectedly?
Oh, absolutely. I was born passionate about nature and protecting natural places. At the age of three I wanted to be an entomologist and sent my allowance to Greenpeace. I also was a French horn performance major at Oberlin, but only finished in biology.
Tell us about something that you're working on at the moment.
An exciting aspect of working at Audubon is the chapter network, which is present and active in those crucial local and regional decisions and public outreach efforts. The Southern California chapters are going to continue to be an important force in the Channel Islands, where I am working to enhance protection of seabirds through the Marine Life Protection Act and other means. Two of the world's rarest seabirds, the Ashy Storm-Petrel and Xantus's Murrelet, breed only in California and Mexico and are in decline. Fortunately, there are many things we can do to help these species and we hope to have some in place in the next year or two – with the help of the chapters.
Besides birding, what's your favorite thing to do when you're not working?
I have two little girls, so I spend nearly all my non-work time with them. We are often outside, which is blessedly possible in our Mediterranean climate. My 4-year-old knows the difference between a robin and a towhee, and my older one is more interested in intertidal invertbrates.
What do you want Californians to know about birding and/or the state's environment that they don't already?
California is so huge, rich and diverse in natural resources, it would take a lifetime to explore even a fraction of it. You don't need to go on a lengthy faraway camping expedition- the great thing about California is that no matter where you live, there is almost guaranteed to be a nearby area – within a few miles – rich in biodiversity and natural beauty. Visit those areas, help protect them, and help a child or two learn to appreciate them in order to foster future environmental stewards. It's also important to realize that parts of California are also a showcase for the benefits of strong, early landscape conservation and planning. For example the San Mateo Coast and Marin Headlands are almost unbelievably open relative to the millions of people in San Francisco and the Peninsula. This is the result of good planning and effective advocacy. I wish the same had happened where I grew up in south Jersey.
What’s your favorite non-birding book?
Charlotte's Web. by E.B. White, the most perfect book in the English language.
