Author: Erika Zambello

Erika Zambello is a writer, birder, and photographer living and working along the Emerald Coast of Florida. She has a master’s degree in environmental management, where she specialized in ecosystem science and conservation. Her love of the outdoors was inspired by a childhood in Maine, where she returned for her National Geographic Young Explorer grant. In addition to Maine, she has lived in New York, France, Washington, DC, and North Carolina. Erika believes in the power of communicating conservation and exploration, which was the inspiration for One World, Two Feet.

Audubon Florida: When Hurricanes and Coastal Construction Alter Bird Habitat – How Do They Fare?

For sea, shore, and wading birds along Florida’s coastline, breeding and foraging habitat is tightly linked to their ability to successfully raise their families. What is foraging habitat? Put simply, it’s the areas where these birds find their food. Coastlines are dynamic areas, and in 2023 we saw firsthand how changing shorelines are impacting some…

Audubon – Bird Bands Shed Light on Cross-Flyway Shorebird Migrations

“It’s morning, and finally cool after weeks under a sweltering heat wave. Michael Ferrara, Audubon’s Carrabelle shorebird biologist, and I watch a thunderstorm and its deep blue clouds slide by just east of us, far enough away to avoid rain but close enough to revel in the dramatic skyline. Alligator Point in the Florida Panhandle…

Piecework – The Quilts of Gussie Beatrice Arnold Hill

The quilts hang from the ceiling, colorful and some so massive that I wonder how their maker used them. Fully covering a king bed, perhaps? Cloaking an entire wall? Mrs. Gussie Beatrice Arnold Hill designed her quilts to be functional, Anjali Austin explained at a reception celebrating her grandmother’s works at the Florida State University…