Friday, April 1, 2016

2:00–4:00pm – Birding Field Trip to Hornsby Bend, hosted by Travis & Bastrop Audubon Society

Meet local birders Mike Goebel and Jane Tillman at the Hornsby Bend Center for Environmental Research (CER), 2210 FM 973, Austin, TX 78725. 

Hornsby Bend is a famous central Texas hotspot, with 337 species documented. It is conveniently located a short distance from the Austin airport. Hornsby is the solid waste treatment plant for Austin and its roughly 1200 acres include ponds, riparian woodlands and some open grassy areas. Check eBird for early April possibilities and read more about Hornsby Bend. 

Saturday, April 2, 2016

7:00–8:30am – Guided Hike at McKinney Roughs

8:30–9:00am – Breakfast

9:00–9:45am – Opening Plenary Session
Mayor Rob Franke, City of Cedar Hill and Chair of the Audubon Texas Board 

9:45–10:00am – Refreshment Break

10:00–10:50am – Breakout Sessions 

Session 1A: ArcGIS basics for Chapters and Members
Doss Dingli, Enterprise GIS Support Specialist, National Audubon Society Conservation Planning

Session 1B: Growing the Audubon Network 
David Ringer, Chief Network Officer, National Audubon Society

11:00–11:50am – Breakout Sessions 

Session 2A: Audubon’s Science Programs in Texas and Central Flyway Priority Projects
Iliana Pena, Director of Conservation, Audubon Texas

Session 2B: Conservation Education Trunk Resource
Mitchell Lake Audubon Center Staff

12:00–1:00pm – Lunch, sponsored by Holbrook Travel

1:30–2:45pm – Keynote Speaker
Carter Smith, Executive Director of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

2:45–3:00pm – Break

3:00–4:00pm – Central Flyway Update and Discussion
Brian Trusty, Executive Director, Audubon Texas and VP of Central Flyway, National Audubon Society

4:00–4:30pm – Audubon Foundation of Texas Discussion 
Merrick Darley, AFT President 

4:40–5:30pm – Breakout Sessions

Session 3A: Citizen Science on the Texas Coast 
Kari Howard, TERN Program Associate, Audubon Texas 

Session 3B: Audubon’s Climate Initiative – Climate 2.0
Tania Homayoun, Ph.D., Urban Conservation Program Manager 

6:00–7:30pm – Dinner & Controversial Issues Briefing
Brian Trusty, Executive Director, Audubon Texas and VP of Central Flyway, National Audubon Society