Cornell Lab of Ornithology Receives Multiple Awards for its Visitor Center

November 17, 2025

Ithaca, NY—The Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD) announced the 2025 Global Design Awards in San Francisco over the weekend. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s newly renovated Visitor Center in Ithaca, New York, was one of 30 projects honored out of 284 entries, receiving the Merit Award and the Sustainability Impact Recognition Award. These prestigious awards honor installations that connect people to place through storytelling, meaning, and impact.

“For nearly four decades, the SEGD Global Design Awards have defined design excellence in how we connect people to place through storytelling, meaning, and impact,” said SEGD CEO Cybelle Jones. “Winning projects highlight the breadth of our community—from deeply researched approaches that prove design’s impact beyond beauty, to work that advances equity, sustainability, and a more connected world.”

At the heart of the Cornell Lab’s Visitor Center is the Adelson Family Bird Discovery Lab, a dynamic space where visitors can listen to birdsong, explore migration maps, and uncover fascinating insights from the Lab’s research. This imaginative blending of science and storytelling earned the Cornell Lab and C&G Partners, the designers of the project, a Merit Award honoring artful conception and creative solutions in experience design.

“We’re deeply honored to receive this recognition,” said Lisa Kopp, project manager for the Visitor Center redesign. “This award reflects the creative collaboration that went into reimagining how people experience birds and nature inside our space. The Adelson Family Bird Discovery Lab, in particular, invites visitors to explore the beauty and complexity of bird life through interactive exhibits, real scientific data, and soundscapes that connect people to the natural world in new and inspiring ways.”

The Cornell Lab and C&G Partners also received a Sustainability Impact Recognition from SEGD for demonstrating leadership in sustainable design through material innovation, process integration, and environmental sensitivity and a Gold in exhibit and print from Graphis Awards. Graphis Awards celebrate the industry’s best talents worldwide in design, advertising, art/illustration, photography and more.

Jurors evaluating the projects said: “I was really impressed by how this project [the Visitor Center] brings the Cornell Ornithology Lab’s research to life. The layering of interpretive design, immersive storytelling, and hands-on learning makes the experience feel alive—connecting visitors not just to birds, but to the urgency and wonder of conservation itself.”

“One of the tests of a great design,” said Ian Owens, director of the Cornell Lab,  “is how it feels after the honeymoon period. After a year, the Visitor Center still gives me that ‘Wow’ every time I come into the building. I’ve even changed my route to make sure I come through the main door to get that kick before I start the day. And more importantly, I hear the same from our visitors; they love the combination of futuristic technology, elegant lines, and beautiful art. It’s their place to forget about the world for a moment, and just connect with birds and nature.”

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About the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a nonprofit, member-supported organization dedicated to the understanding and protection of birds, wildlife, and our shared planet through research, education, participatory science, and conservation. birds.cornell.edu

Media Contact:

Kathi Borgmann, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, (607) 254-2137, klb274@cornell.edu