Taking Flight Project
In 2019, Karinne founded the “Taking Flight” Project, an educational initiative to foster an environmental ethic among youth to inspire the next generation of leaders.
Why is birding important?
Birds are beautiful sentinels of ecosystem health that captivate us all with their incredible diversity and fascinating behavior.
Tragically, five years ago, a Science paper reported that in the last 50 years, we’ve lost nearly one-third of the planet’s birds.
Read more about why birds matter and how to help them here!
Why do we need young birders?
According to the above article, approximately 96 million people in the US (>35% of the nation’s population aged 16 and over) closely observed, fed, or photographed birds; visited public parks to view birds; or maintained plantings and natural areas around the home for the benefit of birds in 2022. Less than 14% of American birdwatchers are under 25. Since major threats like habitat loss are exacerbated by climate change, the most pressing issue of our generation, we need all wings on deck. We strive to bring birds back!
We acknowledge, empower, and bridge the unique ornithological perspectives of students, teachers, scientists, architects, photographers, artists, podcasters, and more. This is a grassroots mission that aims to revolutionize the future one young birder at a time.
Highlights
- Organizing “Cranes of Yale,” a month-long interdisciplinary initiative bridging traditional Japanese origami and crane conservation
- Developing a DIY Birdfeeder workshop to engage engineering students in birding (2025)
- Hosting “Taking Flight in Print,” a week-long photography exhibition centered on student birders (2025)
- Studying the effects of lead-contaminated water on birds in Flint, Michigan in the Cornelius Lab (2019)
- Exploring threats to shorebirds at the Cape Horn International Center in Chile’s Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve (2024)
- Surveying breeding birds, participating in annual nationwide counts, and contributing to eBird (2019-2022)
- Supporting wildlife rehabilitation for injured birds at the Bird Center of Michigan (2021)
- Preparing bird specimens for the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History (2022-present)
- Leading biannual Birding 101 workshops to New Haven middle schoolers with Splash at Yale on bird identification and DIY birdfeeders (2023-present)
- Leading field trips in collaboration with Yale Outdoors (YO) & the Yale Birding Student Association (YBSA) to connect youth with nature (2022-present)
- Promoting environmental literacy on the Freeman Environmental Education Youth Council (2019-2022)
- Founding the city of Ann Arbor’s first high school bird club (2022-present)
- Check out our Instagram page! (@o.s.pioneer)
I basically found my way into OSP by just hearing about it. I had been doing bird watching my whole life so I decided to join. When we did the workshop for the elementary feathered friends students, that probably had the most impact, interacting with the students and also being able to teach them more about birds in a fun and engaging way.
Adeline Munson, OSP President, Class of 2026
Under Adeline’s leadership, OSP currently has 12 active members—four freshmen, four sophomores, and four juniors.
- Co-founding a statewide young birders group, the Michigan Young Birders Network (MYBN) and serving as their counselor at the Michigan Young Birders Camp (MYBC) (2021-2022)
- Creating a novice birding podcast, “Taking Flight” (2020-2021)
- Presenting at conferences (2021)
- Creating curriculum for the 2022 Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympiad “Feathered Friends” event (2022)
- Teaching New Haven middle school students to engage with the environment through the Yale Environmental Education Collaborative (EECO) (2023-present)
- Collaborating with a local nonprofit to bring birding to the public (2021-present)
- Sustaining Ann Arbor Together Grant Program & the “Bins 4 Birders” Initiative
- Conducting the state’s first Birdability surveys (2020-2022)
- Founded by Virginia Rose, Birdability works to ensure the birding world and the outdoors are safe for everybody.
More initiatives coming soon!
Everyone can make a difference. We are all environmental decision-makers: the planet’s first responders. The world’s one billion children are one billion more voices, votes, and allies in our global fight for change.
Interested in becoming a birder? Check out these resources.
If you would like to join us, please reach out to Karinne. Oh the places we’ll go, the things we’ll see, and the world we’ll build together!
Karinne Tennenbaum 