Joel Such - 2022

Joel Such is a conservation biologist, wildlife photographer, and bird guide from Lyons, Colorado. Growing up in the foothills of the Front Range, Joel’s intense passion for the avian world was fully ignited by age two. Ever since, Joel has pursued birds with unwavering devotion and has contributed to a wide range of biological field projects and environmental education in both the United States and Latin America. Pursuing his master’s degree in conservation biology at Prescott College, Joel’s field research focuses on bird and mammal populations of the cloud forests of Colombia’s Western Andes where he currently lives. With an overarching goal of effectively contributing to the world of conservation, Joel is deeply committed to community-based conservation and multicultural, collaborative projects which build support for birds across their entire range.

Joel has developed the Tatamá Bird Monitoring Program in the Western Andes of Colombia.  His presentation at the festival discussed the development of a new bird monitoring program in Tatamá National Natural Park and its buffer zone in the Western Andes of Colombia.  Through long-term monitoring and the use of an innovative and rigorous data collection protocol, the Tatamá Bird Monitoring Program aims to generate baseline data of the region’s bird life, identify population trends, increase the knowledge of understudied species and ecological communities, inform conservation actions, contribute knowledge to local and scientific communities, and build bridges between stakeholders.