McAdams ’93, Executive Director of New York City Audubon Society, to Address Conservation

WORCESTER, Mass. – E.J. McAdams ’93, the executive director of New York City’s Audubon society, will give a talk titled "Hawking Urban Nature: Creativity and Conservation in New York City" on April 10 at 4:30 p.m. in Dinand Library’s Levis Browsing Room at the College of the Holy Cross. The talk is free and open to the public.

McAdams will begin his talk with his views on the current contention that traditional environmentalism is dead; discuss the media-darling red-tail hawk, "Pale Male," as an example of how creative modern responses can shape current conservation efforts; discuss the arc of his career from studying nature poetry at Holy Cross to being a park ranger to rising through New York City’s Audubon, which seeks to preserve the city’s natural habitats; and highlight a range of urban environmental projects that hinge on unusual partnerships before opening up the floor for questions.

McAdams believes that design is the conservation tool of the future, and has tried to forge partnerships with architects and designers to solve bird conservation problems. Formerly, he worked for the City of New York/Parks and Recreation as an urban park ranger, where he reintroduced eastern screech owls to Central Park. McAdams is also a published poet and essayist. His fascination with nature grew out of his interest in poetry, which was fostered at Holy Cross by Robert Cording, professor of English.

The event is sponsored by the environmental studies program.