STAFF PROFILES
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Charles Duncan
Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network Director |
"I am excited to coordinate WHSRN, both for its importance to birds and conservation, and for the opportunity to work with the extraordinary people who care for the remarkable places in the Network.”
Charles Duncan became the director of the Executive Office of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network in October, 2003. Prior to joining Manomet, he was Director of The Nature Conservancy’s “Gulf Wings” project, identifying and conserving stopover habitat for migratory landbirds in the U.S. and Mexican portions of the Gulf of Mexico.
Charles had a long and successful career in academia, becoming Professor of Chemistry and Environmental Studies at the University of Maine at Machias before leaving to work for TNC in 1999. At UMM, he founded and directed the Institute for Field Ornithology, a program of workshops encouraging amateur birders to contribute to the understanding and conservation of birds in their native habitats. From 1998-2000, he was President of the Association of Field Ornithologists, a professional society with members in 50 countries, and emphasized the importance of AFO’s role in advancing ornithology in the tropics of the New World. In 2002, he was recognized with the “Chandler Robbins Award for Education and Conservation” by the American Birding Association.
Charles is fluent in Spanish, and worked in Chiapas, Mexico, as an invited researcher on avian conservation projects with Pronatura Chiapas from 1992-3. He is an avid birder, sound recordist, and photographer, with interests in tropical America, the United States, and Canada. He jokes that his professional career in avian conservation is simply a “hobby that got badly out of control.” He has contributed over 1000 audio-recordings of North, Central, and South American birds to Cornell's Library of Natural Sounds, and has published many scientific and popular articles, especially emphasizing changes in population status and distribution of birds.
Charles has a B.A. from Rice University (chemistry), a Ph.D. (organic chemistry) from Yale University, and held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Virginia. He enjoys travel; dance—especially Argentine tango; traditional music and food; kayaking; cross-country skiing; and Latin American literature. He lives in Portland, Maine with his partner, Laura Blutstein, a physician specializing in family practice medicine.
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