Audubon Delta announced today that Dr. Shubham Datta has been named Senior Director of Conservation for its regional office.

“Shubham brings an unparalleled dedication to community-based conservation with a successful track record of bringing together stakeholders and communities to achieve real conservation impact. We are thrilled to have Shubham onboard leading Audubon Delta’s efforts to ensure our work supporting healthy bird populations is aligned with the long-term resilience and equity concerns of the people who call this region home,” said Dawn O’Neal, Executive Director and Vice President at Audubon Delta.

“Shubham’s rich experience, including work in both conservation economics and strategic conservation planning, places him in a strong position to lead Audubon Delta’s efforts to protect and restore the region’s most valuable habitats and expand the adoption of sustainable, bird-friendly forestry, agricultural, and coastal restoration and management practices.”  

Dr. Datta has nearly two decades of wildlife research and conservation experience with both governmental and non-governmental organizations and communities as stakeholders and has generated and managed large research budgets and conservation projects in the United States and India. Apart from that, he also has experience working in Caribbean Islands, and the Middle East. Dr. Datta’s experience working with multiple taxa in various countries and landscapes, and under different socio-economic scenarios, includes leading multiple research collaborations and capacity building and citizen science projects. He possesses comprehensive experience in scientific communication, grant proposals, educational outreach to educational institutions and communities, and public speaking to lay and scientific audiences.

“I joined Audubon Delta because I believe in the conservation mission of this extremely important region and believe hands-on conservation is the way to address the challenges, and opportunities, that it faces,” said Dr. Datta.

“My vision for conservation is inclusive development of the environment and its residents, and I look forward to participating in Audubon’s mission of creating a better world for birds and people through equitable conservation.”

Dr. Datta earned his Ph.D. from South Dakota State University where he studied the reproductive ecology of grassland raptors. Prior to that, he studied movement ecology of bats in North Dakota and South Dakota, reintroduction of the swift fox in Badlands National Park, SD, community conservation in NE Himalayas, reintroduction of tigers in Sariska National Park, India, and multiple other research and conservation projects. He holds a Master’s in Natural Resource Management and a Bachelor’s in Zoology and has over twelve years of experience in graduate and undergraduate level teaching, advising, and research. (Full bio here.)

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About Audubon Delta:

Audubon Delta is the regional office of the National Audubon Society, encompassing the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.  The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon has had a presence on the Gulf Coast for over a century and is invested thoroughly in the region. Audubon staff work to advance habitat restoration, conservation, and stewardship with the goal of having healthy and resilient coastal and marine ecosystems that support populations of birds, fish, wildlife, and people throughout the Gulf’s five coastal states.