Left to right: NYC Bird Alliance Executive Director Jessica Wilson; honoree Dr. Eric W. Sanderson; Michele Neptune, Google Real Estate Workplace Infrastructure, Sustainability, and Accessibility Regional Partner for the Americas; Katie Scallon, Google Real Estate Regional Director, Northeast.
NYC Bird Alliance | October 16, 2026
On October 13, 2026, NYC Bird Alliance’s Fall Roost fundraising gala celebrated our work to protect birds, and honored Google and Dr. Eric W. Sanderson for their vision and leadership in advancing urban biodiversity.
The following is an excerpt from the remarks of Jessica Wilson, executive director:
New York is a city of extraordinary ambition. That ambition must extend to the nature that sustains us. The city’s parks, shorelines, gardens, and rooftops support a remarkable diversity of life. They cool our neighborhoods, absorb stormwater, and connect people to nature. As our climate changes and biodiversity declines, protecting and strengthening the city’s living landscape is essential.
That’s the work of NYC Bird Alliance.
Birds are our starting point. They connect New York City to ecosystems across the hemisphere, and tell us how well our urban environment is working. Protecting bird habitat also supports native bees, butterflies, and the people who share those neighborhoods.
For more than four decades, NYC Bird Alliance has connected science, advocacy, and community engagement to change how urban areas make room for nature.
We study biodiversity on green roofs, then help property owners and designers create better habitat. We turn collision research into safer buildings and stronger laws. And through our new Biodiversity District initiative on Manhattan’s West Side, we’re bringing businesses, institutions, and neighbors together to connect habitat across property lines.
Our strength is turning knowledge of this city’s wildlife into action – and bringing together the people who can make change happen.
Tonight, we’re honoring leaders who are showing us what that future can look like.
Google’s partnership with NYC Bird Alliance demonstrates how corporate investment can create thriving urban habitats. At St. John’s Terminal, for example, Google and its partners have helped redefine green space in the built environment.
I also want to recognize the firms who helped Google make that transformation possible: Future Green Studio, COOKFOX Architects, Second Nature Ecology, Gensler, Blondie’s Treehouse, Greenery NYC, and JLL. Thank you for showing that every single one of us has a role to play in championing biodiversity.
Our second honoree, Dr. Eric W. Sanderson, has changed how we understand New York City’s ecology. His research reveals the extraordinary ecosystems that shaped this city – and challenges us to use that history to build a more biodiverse future.
Please join us in congratulating these champions of urban biodiversity.
New York’s influence extends far beyond its borders. What we build, test, and accomplish here can shape how cities everywhere protect biodiversity.
Realizing that potential takes sustained work: gathering data, building partnerships, changing policy, and putting solutions into practice. Your support makes that work possible — and gives NYC Bird Alliance the independence to push for what this city needs.
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