Birds face new and increasing obstacles in a rapidly changing world. International Bird Rescue rises to meet new challenges in stride, but we cannot do it alone. It takes donors, partners, and the support of an engaged community to rescue waterbirds in crisis. During unforeseen wildlife emergencies like the 2022 California Brown Pelican Crisis, we often rely on our partners to help keep up with sudden unexpected demand. We are pleased to announce the outstanding 2023 Taking Flight award recipients who each helped us meet unexpected challenges in 2022. Read their unique stories below and come celebrate these wildlife heroes with us in person at Taking Flight!
Volunteer of the Year – Karen Sheldon
There aren’t many who can say that they were there when International Bird Rescue was first created, but Karen Sheldon, a young girl at the time, volunteered to collect thousands of birds affected from the 1971 oil spill in San Francisco Bay. In 2006, Karen officially joined as a volunteer for Bird Rescue’s San Francisco Bay-Delta Wildlife Center. Over the years, she’s responded to multiple seabird crises including the 2007 Cosco Busan Oil Spill and the 2015 Mystery Goo event. This past year, Karen stepped up as one of the volunteer leaders for the Cordelia Slough Youth Education Program, which entails developing training materials, managing maintenance projects, and leading a bi-monthly bird census. Karen’s years of dedication to the mission, attention to safety, and her enthusiasm to expand large projects like the Cordelia Slough are a few of the many reasons why she has been chosen for Volunteer of the Year.
Community Partner of the Year – Bart Selby
Bart Selby is a wildlife hero and advocate with a long history of influential roles. He currently holds the At Large seat for San Mateo and San Francisco counties on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Greater Farallones Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council (SAC). He was previously on the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary SAC for nine years, and was the water docent for NOAA’s Team Ocean for a decade, in addition to a stint on the SF-based Whale Disentanglement Team. What sets Bart apart, is not only his passion for wildlife, or his countless rescue and recovery missions while kayaking, but his dedication to prolific observation and tracking.
Since his first sighting in 2011, Bart has logged over 5,100 blue-banded birds sightings, including multiple sightings of the same birds. He has taken over 750,000 images of pelicans. He’s so dedicated to tracking seabirds that he is writing a book telling pelican stories observed in the wild. Bart was a critical help to Bird Rescue during the pelican crisis in 2022 rescuing weak and injured pelicans. In his outdoor adventures, he has spotted about half of the recovered SoCal ‘22 crash birds, and even more NorCal ‘22 releases. Some day, Bart aspires to change California’s bird to the Brown Pelican.
Wildlife Partners of the Year
Dr. Cori Gibble
Dr. Cori Gibble is an Environmental Scientist for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Office of Spill Prevention and Response, at the Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center in Santa Cruz, CA. Cori studies the health and pathology of marine birds, with the ultimate goal of providing the best care possible for birds that are impacted by oil spills. She also researches and monitors emerging threats to seabird populations. During oil spills, she serves as a first responder, filling a variety of roles in the field, at care facilities, and in the incident command post. Cori has been a primary partner for International Bird Rescue during many seabird mortality events including the Common Murre event in 2015 and most recently the 2022 California Brown Pelican Crisis.
Laird Henkel
Laird Henkel is the Director of the Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center for California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response in Santa Cruz, CA, where he maintains staff and equipment readiness for oil spill response and investigates health issues of sea otters and marine birds. One of his most memorable response efforts was during the Cosco Busan Oil Spill in November 2007, where he served various roles from going out in the field on a wildlife recovery team, to helping to process birds coming in to the field stabilization staging area in Berkeley, to eventually filling in as Deputy Wildlife Branch Director. Laird has recently supported International Bird Rescue by encouraging the United States Fish and Wildlife Services to utilize oil spill mitigation funds to buy multiple tons of fish to support hundreds of Brown Pelicans in care at Los Angeles wildlife center during the 2022 mass stranding event.