Fordham Ph.D. candidate leads the flock at Bedford Audubon

Medha Pandey CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Medha Pandey has had a passion for birding since childhood Contributed photo

By BRIAN KLUEPFEL 

Exploring the forests of Acton, Mass., a youthful Medha Pandey had ample opportunity to foster a love for the outdoors and a curiosity about the natural world. 

As the new executive director of Bedford Audubon, she’s keen to engage those dual passions as the organization launches a five-year plan. The Fordham University Ph.D. candidate began the task Jan. 5.

Pandey, by her own admission, is “not a city girl,” so moving from the Fordham’s Bronx campus to its more rustic 113-acre Louis Calder Center research station in Armonk in 2019 was a good fit — and after nearly seven years there researching her doctoral thesis, she’s transitioning to the new role with Bedford Audubon. 

The educator and researcher is excited about the challenges ahead.

“I’ve found the nontraditional educational opportunities provided by conservation NGOs to be the most personally and professionally fulfilling,” she said. 

It was through Audubon — specifically, the Mass Audubon’s Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary — that Pandey discovered her passion for teaching, showing her fifth-grade charges how to extract DNA from a strawberry. 

“It turns out to be pretty easy,” she said. “All you need is a piece of fruit, some detergent and rubbing alcohol.” 

Leading whale-watching expeditions from Boston’s New England Aquarium to Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary further sharpened her outreach acumen. But a winter volunteering at the Wildlife Center of Virginia, in Waynesboro, where the Blue Ridge Mountains meet the Shenandoah Valley, opened up the avian world, leading to her current vocation.

“I got a deep appreciation for birds,” she said, “from cedar waxwings all the way up to bald eagles.”

It was in Virginia where she also realized the consequences of human-avian interaction, as many raptors brought to the center were victims of car strikes, lead poisoning or glue traps. 

Her connection to Bedford Audubon began when the organization’s naturalist-in-residence, Tait Johansson, assisted with her field work. Pandey, in reciprocity, has volunteered each year since 2019 at the organization’s Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship program at the Hunt-Parker Sanctuary. 

“She’s super smart and extremely knowledgeable,” Johansson said. “It’s been a pleasure working with her.” 

He mentioned how quickly she picked up on topics like the specific molts (feather shedding) of birds.

“She learned all these things in a very short period of time,” Johansson said. 

It would be hard to trace Pandey’s career without mentioning J. Alan Clark, the Fordham biology professor and former president of Bedford Audubon. He first worked with Pandey while she was an undergraduate at the State University of New York at  Stony Brook, on a project involving penguin vocal behavior, and subsequently collaborated with her on a 2017 study determining if Asian longhorn ticks, found in New Jersey sheep, could also be carried by birds. In fact, Pandey’s Ph.D., which she’ll defend on St. Patrick’s Day, relates to the role of birds in spreading ticks and tick-borne pathogens.

Pandey’s new position reflects her passion for wild spaces and birds, in particular. When pressed for a favorite species, she demurred but did offer up a “top five” list. Making her chart are the common raven (“I just can’t help but smile when I hear them”), the magnificent pileated woodpecker, indigo bunting, cedar waxwing, and any of the many shrike family (she’s given herself plenty of leeway there — there are more than two dozen). Early in her birding career, she even had the chance to ID a more exotic species — a lovely brahminy kite in her native India. Spotting the raptor from a car, she enthused, “I know what that is!” 

Her enthusiasm extends to her new job.

“It’s an exciting time to be in this position,” Pandey said, noting that the organization’s five-year plan includes science and outreach (“my bread and butter!”), as well as connecting with diverse audiences, including birders with disabilities. A recent meeting with Birdability, an NGO committed to birding for all, particularly inspired the new executive director, who spoke of “the desire to plan intentionally.” 

“She’s a real-live scientist which will inform a lot of things we do here,” Johansson said. “She’s very personable and really fun to be around, a great face to the organization. She has an extraordinary enthusiasm for birds and the natural world — maybe that’s the single most impressive thing about her.”