Margo Zdravkovic

I have a life-long passion for coastal and marine wildlife preservation, and an intense desire to bring effective methods of practical conservation to the field. I believe that human thriving is dependent upon all species surviving. One of my personal missions is to inspire appreciation and care for the natural world by illuminating our individual and collective connection to the Earth which sustains us.

I am CEO and co-founder of the 501c3 non-profit Conservian and its field-based, science-driven Coastal Bird Conservation program. We are dedicated to research, monitoring, and protection of coastal birds and their habitats throughout the Western Hemisphere. Conservian’s primary goals include working with site managers, landowners, and the public to increase coastal bird populations by increasing habitat quality. In 2016 Conservian and partners began the first program in the Bahamas to implement on-the-ground protective and restorative measures to limit human-caused disturbance, and control invasive Casuarina pine at key Piping Plover, shorebird, and seabird sites.

I have directed research and conservation work involving breeding and migratory shorebirds and seabirds on the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, Mexico, and the Bahamas since 2000. I also serve on the Snowy Plover and American Oystercatcher Working Groups in the U.S., and have authored numerous papers and reports concerning beach-nesting birds on the Gulf of Mexico, including the Wilson’s Plover (Charadrius wilsonia) Range-wide Species Conservation Action Plan published by Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. I am actively involved in research and restoration of the Gulf Coast in response to the BP oil spill, and am presently authoring a U.S. Gulf Coast Beach-nesting Bird Assessment and Management Guidelines for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. I hold a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree from Brandeis University, and a USGS master bander’s permit.

July 2016