Field Inclusive – Cape Fear Bird Observatory Name 2024 Summer Fellow

APRIL 9, 2024 | FIELD INCLUSIVE

For immediate release

Contact:
Field Inclusive, info@fieldinclusive.org

Killian Yevtyeyev (he/they), an undergraduate biology major at The Ohio State University, is the recipient of the 2024 joint fellowship from Field Inclusive and Cape Fear Bird Observatory. Yevtyeyev will be helping with Painted Bunting (PABU) banding on public and private properties as well as help establish a point count and banding study on six sites from Wilmington to Sunset Beach. 

“Killian told me that he was a very curious child despite the fact that his curiosity was never nurtured while
growing up and has always been self-driven,” says Tamaki Yuri, Curator of Tetrapods Collection at the Museum of Biological Diversity, The Ohio State University (OSU) in Yevtyeyev’s nomination letter. He always had keen interest in birds, having raised a family of budgerigars as a child, which he used as subjects for school science projects whenever possible. During his formative years, he emailed various bird sanctuaries in Ohio and asked for shadowing opportunities, but he never received any response probably because he was too young for those positions. Despite his interests, it was not until recently, once he had accumulated knowledge in organismal biology and acquired bird identification skills through several related classes at OSU, that he felt confident enough to apply for fellowships or internships such as this program.”

This is the second year of the joint fellowship, which supports individuals with marginalized and historically excluded identities whose institutions have limited capacity to provide field opportunities, such as small HBCUs, MSIs, and Tribal Colleges. Cape Fear Bird Observatory, along with Wilson Ornithological Society is continuing to sponsoring the fellowship this year.

“Yevtyeyev was the perfect candidate, and I am excited that we could offer this opportunity ” says Lauren D. Pharr, co-founder and CFO of Field Inclusive. “Our mission here at Field Inclusive is to offer intensive field experiences such as this to individuals from smaller schools as well as BIPOC and marginalized communities who may have limited opportunities to gain such experiences. “

Read more about this Fellowship.

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