2023 Isleib Award Winner
The Isleib Award recognizes “outstanding contributions to bird conservation in Alaska”
and has been presented at each Alaska Bird Conference since 1994.
Dr. Liliana Coelho Naves
Liliana completed her baccalaureate and master’s degrees in Brazil at the Federal University of Rio Grande (B. Sci. Oceanography and Renewable Resources 1997; and M. Sci. Biological Oceanography (feeding ecology of black skimmers Rynchops niger 1999). Liliana earned a Ph.D. in biodiversity from the Sorbonne (University of Science and Engineering) in Paris, France (2006) on pair-bonding of black legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla). Liliana began her extensive work on Alaska birds through participation on a long-term USFWS shorebird research project on the Arctic Coastal Plain. Since 2008, Liliana has served as a senior research analyst directing diverse and essential interagency studies of bird harvest assessment, resulting in a substantial body of publications on critical bird management issues
Over the past 15+ years, Liliana has worked tirelessly to fill data gaps and develop more rigorous studies that have increased the utility and reliability of bird harvest survey findings. Liliana’s work provides essential insights on diverse cultural and social values that frame Alaska’s mosaic of dependence on wild resources. Liliana’s considerable quantitative skills and fresh perspectives have helped guide development and adoption of new approaches to improve accuracy and reduce uncertainty of bird harvest assessments.
The 1997 ratification of amended migratory bird treaties with Canada and Mexico mandated bird harvest assessment and basing spring and summer hunting regulations on sustainable and equitable regulatory strategies. Liliana has assumed critical roles to facilitate a collaborative re-design of a statewide subsistence bird harvest survey program for the Alaska Migratory Bird Co-management Council (AMBCC). Through her strong commitment to develop and interpret relevant harvest data in this mandated effort, Liliana has proven to be immensely productive and effective in delivering high-quality data and collaborative products relevant to advancing a new subsistence bird harvest regime, with special focus on loons, emperor geese and shorebirds.
Liliana has shown dedication to developing innovative approaches to complex resource management problems by encompassing human dimensions analysis and integrating cross-cultural information into effective conservation strategies. Liliana has successfully combined dedication to rigorous science with description and integration of traditional ecological knowledge that is essential and necessary in resolving biological issues. Her success at developing consensus on issues, achieving mutual education and trust, and nurturing continued long-term collaboration among affected interests has been exceptionally valuable.
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)