Ann Brice is a donor, chapter leader, board member, partner and dedicated volunteer. Her path to birds and Audubon began years ago, with a job studying a rampant deer population on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. Walking the island’s trails, she started looking at birds, and learned more about them by joining Golden Gate Audubon field trips. Eventually she earned a PhD in ecology with a focus on avian studies. Ann jokes, “I wanted to have two kids and a PhD by the time I was 40. I missed by a year or two.”

Ann has led two Yolo County conservation non-profits, became the first woman to serve on her local water district board, and provides a conservation voice on the Northern California Water Association board. Her interests with Audubon tend to focus on Central Valley land and water issues. As a scientist, Ann is a big proponent of the way Audubon looks at its conservation strategies by birds’ migratory flyways.

Ann’s hopes for Audubon’s work in the Central Valley, long term? “I’d like to see secure water for state and federal refuges, and our continued involvement with farmers, which is essential. I’m pretty optimistic. The farmers on the water boards I work with understand and like birds. They send me photos of birds they see on their fields.” Ann also wants more people to experience the “jewel” that is Audubon Bobcat Ranch, and has helped Yolo Audubon organize phenology studies and public field trips to the property.