Birds of Urban Baltimore (B.Ur.B) was founded in 2019 with the help of a Baltimore Community Fellowship from the Open Society Institute; B.Ur.B has been providing valuable opportunities to engage with bird science and conservation. Through community events, bird banding demonstrations, internships, and more, we support communities wishing to become more involved in their own neighborhood and provide valuable skills and resources to community members interested in careers in conservation sciences.

In the future we hope to expand our offerings, by supporting a migration banding station at one of our partnering sites, offering research and travel opportunities to students within the community, and providing tranings and workshops. Please continue to watch our social media and website for updates on this, and other programatic offerings!

Eric Fishel, Founder and Program Director: Eric is a Conservation Biologist specializing in Urban Ecology of Birds.  Eric grew up just outside of Baltimore, in Owings Mills, MD, and attended Johns Hopkins University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Biology while working as an Intern and Naturalist with the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, and Marshy Point Nature Center.  After college, he spent the next 11 years working on a variety of avian conservation research projects in seven states and seven countries.  In 2016 he received a master’s degree in Natural Resources from the University of Missouri studying the impacts of land management practices on breeding bird and plant communities in an urban residential area.

Working in conservation ecology for the past 12 years has driven his passion for addressing urban conservation needs, and the associated environmental justice impacts, as he has seen first-hand how access to nature empowers communities and how effective an outreach tool hands-on science is.

Eric currently lives in the Hampden Community of Baltimore with his cat Uncle Eric.

Mike Hudson, Program Manager: Mike is an educator and biologist who was born and raised in in southeast Baltimore City. He has a bachelor’s degree in Biology, with a concentration in physiology and organismal science from Washington College. During college he worked at Foreman’s Branch Bird Observatory, a migration banding station on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, while also teaching in the college’s writing center and general biology labs. Since then he has worked as a field biologist across the United States and as an educator at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. He was also an Editor of North American Birds, has taught at numerous bird camps, and is a sought-after speaker on topics of bird identification and natural history.

Mike has spent much of his life in Baltimore and believes that access to the natural world is of critical importance for all communities. It is this belief that informs and compels his work with Birds of Urban Baltimore. He lives with his partner in Baltimore’s Belvedere-Chinquapin neighborhood with their gecko, Chester and cat, Minnie.