Avian research focus of latest volume of Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies

Publication Date

Theodore Roosevelt’s love of the Adirondacks is widely known. As a young man growing up in New York City, Roosevelt spent many family vacations enjoying the spectacular beauty and outdoor activities the Adirondacks offered.

The future “conservation president” had a particular affinity for birding, with a knack for identifying birds and their songs. He kept journals with meticulous notes of his discoveries. In 1877, when he was a sophomore at Harvard, Roosevelt wrote “Summer Birds of the Adirondacks,” based upon the observations made over three summers in the St. Regis Lake region with classmate Henry Minot. The two friends documented 97 different birds, the first accounting of Adirondack birds to be published.

That exhaustive checklist is reproduced in the latest volume of the Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies. Published by The Adirondack Research Consortium and Union’s Kelly Adirondack Center, the avian-themed issue includes articles from leading scientists on “The Saranac Lake Christmas Bird Count,” “Songbird Research from Sphagnum Bog to Alpine Summit” and “State of the Birds in Exurbia.”

The Journal was published bi-annually by the consortium from 1994 to 2011, when it dropped to once a year, with a heavier presence on the web. Lacking the staff and the financial resources to publish a scientific journal, the consortium has partnered with the Kelly Adirondack Center to publish future volumes. Volume 20 is the first joint effort; later this year, Volume 21 will focus on the “Geology of the Adirondacks.”

“There's a lot of potential that comes with our partnership,” said Caleb Northrop, executive editor of the journal and special assistant to the President's Office and Kelly Adirondack Center. “It's not only a clear indication of Union's institutional commitment to the study of the region, but it’s an opportunity for our students and faculty to publish their research in a regional journal. My hope is that the journal sparks even more interest in the resources at Adirondack Research Library and the different opportunities offered by the Kelly Adirondack Center.”

A free copy of Volume 20 is available by becoming an “AJES Member” of the Adirondack Research Consortium and the Kelly Adirondack Center. In addition to supporting the ongoing publication of AJES, members will receive updates on future volumes of the journal.
To become a member, fill out this form. And send cash or check for $20 made payable to:

Union College
Attn: Caleb Northrop
Feigenbaum Hall
807 Union Street Schenectady, N.Y. 12308

The Adirondack Research Consortium is a not-for-profit organization based on the Paul Smith’s College campus, whose mission is to find ways to share research and information to better inform those making policy decisions impacting the Adirondacks.

The Kelly Adirondack Center is three miles from Union’s campus, at 897 St. David’s Lane, Niskayuna.

The center includes a home built by noted Adirondack conservationist Paul Schaefer in 1934 and the Adirondack Research Library. Union acquired the center in 2011 from a private conservation group.

The library boasts the largest collection of material outside of the Adirondack Park, including rare books, maps, photographs, documents and the personal papers of some of the region's foremost conservationists.