Jenn Lodi-Smith
The Spark Bird Project is led by Jenn Lodi-Smith, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at Canisius University and scholar-in-residence at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute. She serves as secretary/treasurer for the Association for Research in Personality, associate editor of Journal of Personality, on the board of the Friends of Reinstein Woods, and mentors the WNY Young Birders Club.
After spending a number of years looking for ways to intersect her passion for nature and her expertise in personality science, she got the spark for The Spark Bird Project while at Hog Island Audubon Family Camp when she learned about the concept of spark birds! Her spark birds are her kiddos who helped her notice birds and then fall in love with birding. Since then, she has had transformative moments with a fledgling Great Horned Owl, flocks of Atlantic Puffins, a friendly Black-throated Green Warbler, and a fishing Barred Owl!
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Janet McNally
Janet McNally, MFA, is associate professor of English and Creative Writing and director of the All-College Honors Program at Canisius University in Buffalo, NY. A novelist and poet, she is author of the novels Girls in the Moon and The Looking Glass (HarperCollins), and a collection of poems, Some Girls, winner of the White Pine Press Poetry Prize. She is a longtime studier of storytelling, and her spark bird is the Great Egret, a bird so beautiful and weird it almost seems fictional. Professor McNally is a scholar-in-residence with the Roger Tory Peterson Institute.
Genevieve Fontana
Hello, my name is Genevieve Fontana, the creator behind the Spark Bird Project logo. I am honored to have been chosen for this project. I am currently in my senior year at Canisius University dual majoring in both Animal Behavior Ecology and Conservation as well as Digital Media Arts with a concentration in graphic design. I am specifically interested in how effective digital art can impact conservation efforts.
My love for birds has come from my relationship with my mom. We would spend all year long in our yard. Some of my most distinct memories are making snowmen during our cold Buffalo winters and filling the brim of their hat with black oil sunflower seeds, watching the wide variety of visitors come, including chickadees and cardinals.
If you are interested in checking out more of my work here is my portfolio.
With ornithological consultation from Sara R. Morris, Ph.D., Executive Director - Shoals Marine Lab, Emeritus Professor of Biology - Canisius University, President - American Ornithological Society, and Past President - Wilson Ornithological Society (2015-2017)