Melrose resident and long-time Audubon volunteer (Sarah) Joyce King was recognized this week with the Charles H. Callison Award. The award honors outstanding National Audubon Society staff and Chapter volunteers throughout the U.S.

“Joyce King is an exemplary Audubon volunteer,” said National Audubon Society president John Flicker. “For more than twenty five years, she has demonstrated personally that the action of committed individuals can change the world.”

A retired school teacher and counselor, Ms. King has helped Audubon achieve its conservation mission on the local, state and national levels. She has served as President of the St. Petersburg Audubon Society and as a board member of both Florida Audubon and Audubon of Florida, after the former became a state office of the National Audubon Society. She is currently the President of Santa Fe Audubon Society, a new chapter and Florida’s 44th, and in May was elected to the board of the National Audubon Society.

“Joyce has worked tirelessly on behalf of the birds and important habitats in the state, and to nurture cooperative relationships throughout the Audubon organization. We are thrilled that her efforts are being recognized in this way,” said David Anderson, Executive Director of Audubon of Florida.

Ms. King launched the Beach Nesting Bird project (now known as the Suncoast Shorebird Partnership) as a conservation project of St. Petersburg Audubon, with handful of volunteers in 1992. The project documents the success (or lack of success) of nesting shorebirds on the Gulf coast of Florida. In 2002, St. Petersburg Audubon Society expanded the partnerships with government land managers, park personnel, and private landowners to protect beach-nesting birds. St. Petersburg Audubon Society now carries out the project with more than 100 volunteers along the Gulf Coast.

Ms. King was also one of the original architects of the Regional Conservation Committee structure that provides the flow of conservation ideas and information between the Board of Audubon of Florida and the states’ chapters, and, as a member of the state Audubon Chapters Committee, designed the annual Audubon Academy, to train and mentor chapter leaders from throughout the state.

The National Audubon Society gives the Callison Awards biennially to staff members and volunteers selected for criteria including environmental policy achievements, creativity, coalition building, and education and outreach. The awards namesake, Charlie Callison, was executive vice president of National Audubon Society from 1960 to 1977, and a leading voice in the creation of Audubon’s field operations, which grew and supported the Chapter network.