Leading Conservation: CLI Students Unveil Year-End Projects

Audubon Florida’s Conservation Management Initiative (CLI) is an immersive program that connects undergraduate college students with Audubon chapter leaders for a singular, intergenerational studying expertise. Every fall, 25 college students from throughout Florida are chosen to affix this system via the tutorial 12 months, the place they discover real-world conservation matters like habitat restoration, neighborhood science, environmental advocacy, and nonprofit management. On the finish of every program, contributors full a student-led challenge in collaboration with their chapter. By way of their tasks, college students hone their expertise whereas contributing towards native conservation efforts.

We characteristic three thrilling initiatives beneath.

Gale Salyer: College of Central Florida Chapter | Orange Audubon Society

Orange Audubon Society works to revive native vegetation at their newly acquired Apopka Birding Park to supply higher habitat for wildlife. In an effort to take away invasive cogan grass, they launched into an formidable mowing program. There’s only one downside: Species like skinks and gopher tortoises can conceal within the grass! To keep away from them whereas mowing, Salyer created a GIS map for Orange Audubon exhibiting (very clearly) the place gopher tortoise burrows and different delicate wildlife areas are. With GPS, the mowing group can simply keep away from these factors whereas restoring the habitat.  

Miguel Arguello: Florida Worldwide College Chapter | Tropical Audubon Society

How can chapters work with the subsequent era of conservation leaders to guard birds and the locations they want? That’s the query Arguello tackled as his CLI challenge, as he labored with each pupil teams and Tropical Audubon Society to attach college students with conservation alternatives. He explored internship alternatives, liaised with pupil teams, linked his work with the FIU Arboretum Initiative, reached out to undergraduate management, and even shaped Florida’s latest Audubon on Campus chapter.

Thandi Kirk: Florida A&M College Chapter| Apalachee Audubon 

To extend Purple Martin populations throughout the Sunshine State, chapters are flocking collectively to create martin gourd arrays and different synthetic nests (see web page 16). Most of the homes are put in in public parks and inexperienced areas, however many individuals don’t know what they’re, so Kirk determined to deal with schooling as her CLI challenge. Noting that some individuals erroneously considered the arrays as large fowl feeders, she created a sequence of academic indicators that showcase the spectacular migration of this little fowl and the significance of those new nesting habitats. Leon County favored her indicators a lot that they reached out to put in them in different parks that characteristic Purple Martin arrays.

This text was revealed within the Summer time 2026 Naturalist.