Chairman’s Council

The Chairman’s Council is a generous and dedicated group of Cornell Lab of Ornithology leaders who enable the Lab to pursue excellence and leadership in international scientific discovery, education, citizen science, and conservation.

The true benefits of Chairman’s Council membership come from the broad impact of work at the Cornell Lab, made possible with your help. Membership gifts made by our Chairman’s Council members enable us to direct funds to programs that have the greatest need to make significant strides in understanding and protecting birds and nature.

As a Chairman’s Council member, you will receive a full complement of exclusive benefits and special opportunities such as first-class birding experiences with other Council members, Administrative Board members, and Cornell Lab leaders, including executive director Ian Owens. Past trips have taken Council members to far-flung places in the Western Hemisphere, from Montana to Panama. Future trips include Nebraska and Portugal.

Other Membership Benefits

• A personal contact at the Lab to answer questions and provide resources.
• Direct access to Lab faculty, staff, and student scientists.
• Insider access to events, news stories, and innovative research findings from the Lab’s top-notch faculty, staff, and student scientists.
• Access to the exclusive Chairman’s Council website, featuring news items from around the Lab, monthly issues of the staff news-letter, The CLUE, access to publications and multi-media, trip announcements, archive to past webinars, and more.
• Exclusive invitations to quarterly webinars with the executive director and staff.
• Access to the exclusive Chairman’s Council website, featuring news items from around the Lab, access to publications and multi-media, Lab leader biographies, and more.
• Invitations to Lab events and trips—including the annual Weekend at Sapsucker Woods, (a three-day exclusive getaway at Sapsucker Woods filled with birder training, field trips, and special activities) and an ecotour at Little St. Simons Island, Georgia.
• A private behind-the-scenes tour of the Cornell Lab for you and up to six guests.
• Free access to Birds of North America Online.
• Discounts available for Bird Academy courses, Project FeederWatch, and Wild Birds Unlimited.

To inquire about Chairman’s Council, please contact Melissa Walker at 607-254-2118, melissa.walker@cornell.edu; or Bramble Klipple at 607-254-1105, klipple@cornell.edu. We look forward to welcoming you on board.