Alabama Audubon offers educational experiences for all levels of adult learners. Read more about our upcoming courses below, then click the registration links to sign up. Pre-registration is required and space is limited. Our courses usually fill several days before they begin, so don’t miss your chance to study with Audubon!
While we initially were able to offer these courses for free over the last three months during the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to keep this as a sustainable program, we will begin to have multi-week online courses from our knowledgeable faculty that will have a one-time registration fee, depending on the course. We plan to still have some free courses available each month as well. While the state has reopened, it’s important to stay safe during this pandemic. See our full COVID-19 statement here.
Check out our upcoming courses:
ONLINE Course: Audubon at Home: Protecting Birds from Window Collisions
Handouts for our online courses:
- Audubon at Home: Protecting Birds from Window Collisions
- Audubon at Home: Birdwatching for Beginners with Greg Harber
- Audubon at Home: Birding by Ear with Paul Franklin
Get to know our faculty
Douglas Pierre Baulos received his MFA from the University of New Orleans and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He regularly teaches workshops and lectures on his research in book arts, drawing, and visual ecology. Doug currently is the Assistant Professor of Drawing at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the curriculum director at Studio by the Tracks, an art center that provide free art classes to emotionally conflicted children and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder or other mental illnesses. His drawings, installations, and books have been exhibited/published both nationally and internationally. Doug is a self-proclaimed bird nerd and currently serves on the Alabama Audubon Board of Directors.
A lifelong birder, Paul Franklin has taught birding courses at UAB, Samford University, the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, and other institutions since 1987. As an active member of Alabama Audubon, Paul has served as chairman of the Field Trips and Conservation committees, volunteered as a bird-count compiler, and fulfilled two terms as president of the organization. Among other accomplishments, he has conducted Breeding Bird Survey routes for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, held a Master Bird Bander license, and acted as the state’s primary ornithologist during the development of the Alabama Birding Trail.
Dr. John Friel is the Director of the Alabama Museum of Natural History at the University of Alabama, and was previously the Curator of Fishes, Amphibians, and Reptiles and a Senior Research Associate in the Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University. He received his BS in zoology from the University of Central Florida and his PhD in Zoology from Duke University. John has been a professional ichthyologist for over 25 years and has conducted field research on freshwater fishes throughout South America and Africa. Since moving to Alabama, he has been developing the museum’s biodiversity and community-science initiatives including the Biodiversity of Alabama project on iNaturalist.
Jessie Griswold studied Wildlife Management at the University of Georgia and started her career as Raptor Rehabilitation Coordinator at the Alabama Wildlife Center. She currently works at the Birmingham Zoo as Lead Animal Care Professional in the Animal Health Center. She is known for her love of all things vultures and supports a variety of vulture conservation initiatives around the world. Through the Birmingham Zoo’s Passion into Conservation Action (PiCA) grant, she’s been collecting data on bird-window collisions in downtown Birmingham and advocating for mitigation of glass structures as well as educating homeowners on simple and inexpensive solutions to protect resident and migratory birds.
Andrew “Drew” Haffenden moved to Dauphin Island in 2012 from Birmingham. In an earlier life, in Australia, he was a wildlife researcher, but for the last 35 years, he was primarily involved with nature travel. Walking out on the beach one day in mid-July 2012, he noticed a snowy plover with colored leg bands, and a few days later a banded piping plover. That began an interest in shorebirds which continues to this day, learning the different species and their behaviors through time in the field. Over the years, this has led to 558 resight records of piping plovers and 540 resight records of snowy plovers, plus a sundry of other species ranging from sandpipers to terns. COVID-19 aside, he continues his work in nature travel, the last few years especially to Cuba.
Greg Harber has been a member of Alabama Audubon since he first moved to the city in 1986. During that time, he has served in various capacities, including as a chapter officer and key member on several committees (Bird Counts and Education, among others). An avid cyclist and master birder, he currently serves on the Alabama Audubon Board of Directors and as chairman of our Field Trips committee.
Timothy Joe is a self-taught artist and instructor whose art reflects his deep roots in the Alabama Black Belt region. His art is fueled by the sense of need to preserve rural landscape and scenery, including bird life. An Alabama-born en plein air painter, Timothy Joe held a live art demonstration at our inaugural Hale County Black Belt Birding Tour in 2019 at the Joe Farm, and we’re excited he’s now sharing his love of art and birds as our newest faculty member.
Anne Miller founded and directed Alabama’s first wildlife rehabilitation program—the Alabama Wildlife Center—for thirty years. Since her retirement, she has continued teaching wildlife rehabilitators across the U.S. about returning young wild animals to their parents, as an alternative to raising them in captivity. For her leadership in this area, Anne received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Wildlife Rehabilitator’s Association in 2017. She’s also become an enthusiastic birder, and was involved in expanding the birding trails system throughout Alabama. Anne recently completed a two-year term as President of the Alabama Ornithological Society, and remains an active member of the AOS board of directors. She serves on the Field Trip and Programs committees for Alabama Audubon.