Wayne R. Petersen

ABA Ludlow Griscom Award for Outstanding Contributions in Regional Ornithology to Nuttall member Wayne R. Petersen

The ABA Ludlow Griscom Award is given to individuals who have dramatically advanced the state of ornithological knowledge for a particular region. This may be through their long-time contributions in monitoring avian status and distribution, facilitating the publication of state bird books, breeding bird atlases and significant papers on the regional natural history of birds. This may also be through the force of their personality, teaching and inspiration.

In 2005 Wayne Petersen received the American Birding Association's Ludlow Griscom Award for outstanding contributions in regional ornithology.

Wayne Petersen is director of the Massachusetts Important Bird Area (IBA) Program for the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Throughout his career, Wayne has lectured extensively and conducted birding workshops across North America. His tour-leading experiences have taken him from arctic Canada to South America, Iceland, Africa, Madagascar, Antarctica, Australia, and New Zealand.

Wayne is a New England Regional Editor for North American Birds, a founding member of the Massachusetts Avian Records Committee, and for twenty years has written an identification column for Bird Observer magazine. His other writing projects include authoring or coauthoring the National Audubon Society Pocket Guide to Songbirds and Familiar Backyard Birds (East), Birds of Massachusetts, and Birds of New England; coediting the Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas; and contributing to The Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding, The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior, and Arctic Wings.

Wayne is especially interested in seabirds and shorebirds, and he derives great satisfaction from sharing his knowledge of the natural world with others.