budgets." Georgia has grant writing experience from
her previous work for the City of Boston and from
writing grants for a grassroots nonprofit in California.
"That experience has proved fruitful at this time,"
she says. "That said, fundraising is an ongoing
challenge. I've been reaching out to other related
podcasts and nonprofit organizations to see if they
might like to bring Your Bird Story into their catalog."
Georgia has the podcasting hosting skills of someone
who's been listening closely to others all her life.
She's warm and relaxed, and picks up on subtle
threads to follow up on later. "When I started the
podcast, I thought I'd have a structured approach,
like so many other science and nature podcasts do,"
she says. "But the whole reason for the podcast is for
people to tell their stories in their own way. I want
it to feel like talking to a friend, where there's no
set agenda. I like to follow things that feel 'sparky'
in the conversation—for them and for me."
Georgia does provide guests a list of ques-
tions and potential themes in advance, with the
proviso that the conversation can go anywhere
the storyteller likes. She lets guests know that
they can request an edit if there's something
they've said that they later realize they don't
want to broadcast. That, too, helps guests be
more relaxed and free with their storytelling.
Was there anything else she wanted to be sure to
share? "Don't be afraid of the label 'birder' or feel
it means you have to observe birds in any one way,"
Georgia says. "Whether you're listening to birds, or
seeing them with or without binoculars, taking pic-
tures or sound recordings, writing notes or sketching
birds, you are part of the community of bird lovers."
Loyan Beausoleil is an educator and
conversation biologist whose graduate
work focused on urban-dwelling Chimney
Swifts. She writes the Nature Notes for
Your Bird Story. In this conversation with
Georgia, Loyan talks about how she
has come to know birds and how she
shares this knowledge with children and
other populations. (March 10, 2022)
"I like to follow
things that feel
'sparky' in the
conversation—
for them and
for me."
Kene'h ("Ken") Oweh is the creator and
storyteller of the By the Fire podcast.
In this conversation (February 9, 2023)
with Georgia, Ken shared myths and
folktales about birds and bird-like
creatures of the Black diaspora. She also
spoke about feeding birds in London,
England during the lockdown, and
her burgeoning interest in pigeons.
26 CityTREES
