Catherine Hickey

Catherine is the conservation director for the Pacific Coast and Central Valley Group at Point Blue Conservation Science. Catherine’s work is focused on leading the conservation of wetland ecosystems and wetland-dependent birds migrating through, wintering, and breeding in California’s wetlands, flooded agricultural lands, beaches and dune ecosystems. She works very closely with state and federal agencies, water districts, conservation NGOs and private landowners to help ensure sufficient high-quality water and habitat for wildlife and human communities. Catherine helped establish the Migratory Bird Conservation Partnership between Point Blue, Audubon California, and The Nature Conservancy to advance the pace and scale of migratory bird conservation in California. She also represents Point Blue on the Central Valley Joint Venture Management Board.

Catherine is current Chair of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network’s  (WHSRN) Hemispheric Council and recently served as Chair of the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Council, representing that Council and Point Blue on the U.S. North American Bird Conservation Initiative committee for over a decade. She currently serves on the steering committee for the Pacific Americas Shorebird Conservation Strategy.  She is one of the originators of, and current collaborators in the international Migratory Shorebird Project, a 12-country shorebird research and monitoring program throughout the Pacific Coast of the Americas.

Catherine received her Master of Science in Conservation Ecology from the University of California, Davis in 2001.