Daniel Klem, Jr., Ph.D., D.Sc. is the Sarkis Acopian Professor of Ornithology and Conservation Biology at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Dr. Klem obtained his B.Sc. at Wilkes University and his M.Sc. at Hofstra University. He served in the US military during the Vietnam War and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. He subsequently obtained his doctorate from Southern Illinois University. For over 50 years Dr. Klem has undertaken diverse avian studies. He writes and teaches about the threat that sheet glass and plastic pose to birds. No other scientist has comprehensively studied and published research results documenting and preventing the lethal threat that human structures pose to birds. In his 1990 papers “Bird injuries, cause of death, and recuperation from collisions with windows” and “Collisions between birds and windows: mortality and prevention”, he calculated that between 100 million and 1 billion birds are killed annually, in the United States alone, by flying into windows. His most recent research indicates that a minimum average of 3.5 million birds is the daily mortality rate for bird collisions! His recent book, Solid Air, is a chronicle of his research and what we need to do to address the alarming “human made” destruction of birds. The Pennsylvania Audubon Council, along with the twenty Audubon chapters in Pennsylvania, has identified the issue of bird collisions as a conservation issue of highest priority.

This award is built on the tradition inaugurated by the Audubon Council of Pennsylvania (ACP), to honor individuals who had made important contributions to conservation in Pennsylvania. Past recipients of the Conservation Award in the 1990s included: Governor Robert P. Casey; Sr., Congressmen Peter Kostmayer and Jim Greenwood; Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, Dr. Maurice K. Goddard; and others. All of these past awards were earmarked by a simple ceremony, not associated with any fundraising event, and for the sole purpose to honor to a deserving recipient. Historically the award was in the form of a framed piece of bird art with a simple engraved plaque. In 2022, the Pennsylvania Audubon Council reestablished the “Walt Pomeroy Conservation Award” in the tradition of ACP. It is a fitting tribute to honor the memory and legacy of Walt Pomeroy. DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn was the first individual to receive the “new” award in 2022.

Walt was a great friend of Audubon here in Pennsylvania as well as throughout the former six-state Audubon MidAtlantic Region. Walt served Audubon for seventeen years in the 1980s and 1990s. Walt was responsible for the establishment of many of our chapters here in Pennsylvania as well as Delaware, New Jersey, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. Walt provided immeasurable support to chapters and chapter leaders. Walt established Audubon Councils in each of these states.  Regular Council meetings were used to help coordinate the chapter network. Walt was integral to the formal incorporation of the Audubon Council of Pennsylvania and the reestablishment of the Pennsylvania Audubon Council.

Walt led the successful effort to establish the Pennsylvania Audubon state office with the appointment of Cindy Dunn as the first Executive Director of Audubon Pennsylvania. After his departure from Audubon, Walt continued to serve on the Audubon Pennsylvania Advisory Board. He also served for many years with the various Boards that led to the establishment of the John James Audubon Center in Audubon, Pennsylvania. Walt also served on the Board of the Seabird Institute and the Friends of Hog Island, an invaluable Audubon asset. Walt understood the importance of recognizing the efforts and leadership of individuals who sustained the conservation work critical to us all.