Volunteers in the Scope: Sophie Naffziger

Volunteers are at the heart of PSBO. Everyone in the PSBO community is a volunteer who gives generously of their time and talent to support conservation. In this ongoing feature, we turn our scope on Sophie Naffziger, a high school senior whose volunteer activities at PSBO exemplify commitment to the birds. 

How did you become interested in bird-banding?

I have always had an interest in birds for as long as I can remember. I have done many citizen science projects over the years and recently taken up the annual Spring Wetland Bird Monitoring and Winter Seabird Surveys from PSBO. While looking at the PSBO website to see how else I could get involved, I came across the banding website. I began by taking the beginner banders course last year, then started banding for local MAPS stations over the summer, and most recently took up coaching for this year's banders course.

What's your favorite thing about banding birds?

I have been taking a Cornell Bird Biology course, learning about bird evolution, flight, and physiology. I love getting to see what I have learned through my readings on physical birds because it lets me make connections and helps me develop my bird knowledge, allowing me to process each bird faster and know what to look for.

What motivates you to volunteer as a bird-banding coach?

I think that it is really important for nature conservation to get as many people as possible researching and caring about nature. While I could expand our knowledge of the world by banding as an individual, building community and working as a team in research is far more important, which is why I find coaching so valuable.

What are your other interests besides birding and banding?

I play soccer year-round, taking up most of my time outside of birding. In the winter, spring, and summer, I play with my travel club team; in the fall, I play at school with my younger sister and classmates. I also love reading books, my favorite genre being science fiction. My most recent book was Project Hail Mary and my most recent series was The Expanse. Lastly, I love baking cookies with my younger sister because it lets us spend time together, bond, and experiment with recipes. Our latest batch of cookies were marshmallow crushed candy cane cookies that we made for our soccer team.

What are your future plans and goals?

I completed a research project earlier this year to learn how the job works, and I loved it. I hope to do field research in my future, as it is a centerpoint of what I enjoy and what our world needs. I also recently created Flyway Safe, a bird app designed to reduce bird-window collisions and help people find nearby rescue centers. As a goal, I would love for my app to gain more traction, because I think community efforts are incredibly effective when they are large scale.

What's your favorite local bird?

I would have to say Black-Capped Chickadees. They have adaptations like hippocampus growth/reduction to remember seed stores and conserve energy, but as a bander, I also respect them for their spunk.