I recently had the pleasure of attending the National Audubon Society’s 2019 National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with the delegation from Audubon of Nebraska.

One of the highlights of the convention was the plenary address delivered by National Audubon Society Executive Director David Yarnold. Reviewing the organization’s successes and challenges over the past two years, he emphasized that Audubon remains one of the nation’s most respected and critically important conservation organizations. Mr. Yarnold also charted progress made toward achieving goals focused on advancing equity, diversity and inclusion in National organizational and staffing decisions, noting that efforts are ongoing.

Another impressive session was Terry Root’s climate change overview. Dr. Root, Emeritus Faculty and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, shared the Nobel Peace prize with former Vice President Al Gore for their work in climate change advocacy. She warned us that her presentation was scary but that we would learn precisely what we, as advocates and citizens, can do to address the ever-increasing threats posed by climate change. “I don’t want to hear any of you saying that you ‘believe’ in climate change,” she said. “Climate change is not a ‘belief.’ It is a fact.”