Bruce M. Beehler

Bruce Beehler is an ornithologist, conservationist, and naturalist. He is currently a Research Associate in the Division of Birds at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, and is focused on research and writing about nature and natural history.

Beehler has spent much of his scientific career studying and working to conserve birds and their forest habitats. After conducting doctoral fieldwork in Papua New Guinea, Beehler worked for ten years at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, followed by stints at the Wildlife Conservation Society, U.S. Department of State, Counterpart International, Conservation International, and the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation.

Beehler is an elective Fellow of the American Ornithologists Union, and has served on the boards of the American Bird Conservancy (ABC), RARE, and the Livingston-Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy. Currently, Beehler serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Rainforest Trust and is a Research Associate of the American Bird Conservancy.

Beehler has published eleven books and authored scores of technical and popular articles about birds and nature. In 2007, Beehler was featured in a 60-Minutes piece highlighting an expedition he led to the Foja Mountains in the interior of New Guinea in which scores of new species of plants and animals were discovered. In 2016 Beehler received the Bicentennial Medal from Williams College for his conservation work in the Pacific.

Today, Beehler carries out natural history studies and writing focused on wildlife and natural places in North America.