Katie Fallon will be presenting two talks on vultures during the festival. She is the author of the nonfiction books Vulture: The Private Life of an Unloved Bird (2020, 2017) and Cerulean Blues: A Personal Search for a Vanishing Songbird (2011), as well as two books for children. She is the Executive Director of the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia, a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving the region’s wild birds through research, education, and rehabilitation. She has also served as President of the Mountaineer Chapter of the National Audubon Society.
Katie is a Certified Professional Bird Trainer and has worked with birds since 1998; over the last twenty-five years she has given educational presentations featuring live raptors, vultures, parrots, and corvids. She writes the column WINGBEATS for Bird Watcher’s Digest and has taught writing at West Virginia University, Virginia Tech, and elsewhere. In 2022 Katie tried something new; she ran for a seat in the West Virginia state legislature and lost by just 138 votes! Her first word was “bird.” For more: www.katiefallon.com.
