2026 Isleib Award
The Isleib Award recognizes “outstanding contributions to bird conservation in Alaska”
and has been presented at each Alaska Bird Conference since 1994.
The award winner for 2026 will be announced in December 2026.
About Pete Isleib
M.E. “Pete” Isleib was an extraordinary birder who took his passion for birds to scientific and recreational heights. He moved to Alaska in the early 1960s and made his living as a commercial fisherman.
Pete was known for his ornithological skills and his conservation work in Alaska. One of his greatest contributions was his study of birds in the Copper River Delta and Prince William Sound area.
His book, co-authored with Brina Kessel, Birds of the North Gulf Coast-Prince William Sound Region, Alaska, provided some of the earliest data on avifauna of the area.
Pete Isleib died in an accident while refitting his fishing vessel in Naknek, Alaska, in 1993.
Past Recipients
- Stan Senner (1994)
- G. Vernon Byrd (1997)
- Calvin Lensink (1998)
- Jim King (2000)
- Dan Gibson (2002)
- Brina Kessel (2004)
- Bruce Conant and John “Jack” Hodges Team (2006)
- Robert Gill (2008)
- Dirk Derksen (2010)
- Russ Oates (2012)
- Brian McCaffery (2014)
- Robert J. Ritchie (2016)
- Colleen Handel (2019)
- Margaret Petersen (2021)
- Liliana Coelho Naves (2023)