Pacific Birds wants to give a warm welcome to Amy Pocewicz and Kim Richardson, the two newest members of our International Management Board. Amy joins our U.S. Steering Committee, while Kim joins our Canada Steering Committee.Â
Amy Pocewicz
Amy is the Deputy Assistant Regional Director of Migratory Birds in the Alaska Region at the US Fish and Wildlife Service. She has been with the USFWS in Alaska since 2016, initially serving as the Science Coordinator for what is now the Northwest Boreal Partnership.
Before working with the USFWS, Amy served in the Peace Corps in Bolivia, where she worked with a conservation NGO that managed biological reserves alongside the local Indigenous communities. Here, her focus was on developing a forest inventory. Amy described this as a formative experience for her, solidifying her passion for conservation and leading her to pursue graduate studies in remote sensing and landscape ecology at the University of Idaho.Â
After receiving an M.S. and Ph.D. in Natural Resources, she spent 10 years in Wyoming at the Nature Conservancy where her work included research that informed conservation policy and action. This included assessing the potential impacts of development on Sage-grouse populations, migratory birds, and other sensitive species. Her work also involved conservation planning, outreach events, and more.Â
Since mid-2023 at the USFWS, Amy has led a team dedicated to monitoring and research that supports bird conservation and management across six international flyways. Her passions lie in working on landscape-scale science and conservation.Â
Amy lives in Anchorage, Alaska, and outside of work enjoys exploring Alaska and northwest Canada, hiking, and berry picking. She also loves butterflies and for many years led an annual butterfly count in Wyoming.Â
Kim Richardson
Kim Richardson is the Director of Terrestrial Habitat with the B.C. Ministry of Water, Lands and Resource Stewardship. Her team leads the conservation lands program, which includes working with partners to identify new conservation land opportunities and management of existing conservation lands. This involves working with many partners to identify sites of high ecological value or sites under threat.Â
She has degrees in Natural Resource Management from the University of Northern British Columbia and in Forest Biology from the University of Victoria, and throughout her career has focused on ecological systems, conservation prioritization, and species at risk. Her academic work spurred her passion for ecology and conservation and for approaching these topics from a biodiversity perspective.Â
In her current work, Kim enjoys bringing people together to tackle challenging conservation problems and working across borders, whether those are international, organizational, or regional boundaries.Â
Based in Victoria, B.C., Kim likes to spend her free time trail running, paddle boarding, enjoying the outdoors, and spending time with her children.Â
When asked what they are excited about in working with Pacific Birds, Amy and Kim both shared that they are particularly looking forward to more cross-regional and cross-border collaboration, providing opportunities to think outside of the box, learn from each other and address shared challenges – all in the name of creating and improving habitat for birds!
Please join in giving them both a warm welcome to the Pacific Birds community. We’re looking forward to learning more about them and the expertise they bring to the team!
