SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Passionate, inspiring, and entertaining, Gerrit brings the wonder of birds to life with spectacular video, photographs, and natural sound recordings. Drawing on a 20-year career filming and photographing birdlife and conservation stories around the world for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Gerrit brings an eyewitness perspective to the marvels of birdlife and the challenges they face in the 21st century.
I want to thank you for your incredible presentation on Monday. You had the entire audience enthralled, not only with the amazing photos and videos of your charismatic subject, but by the way you wove and developed the story and effectively communicated its message. It couldn’t have been better received
by the capacity crowd.
— David Donsker
“
AN EXPERIENCED SPEAKER
Gerrit has been sharing his adventures with audiences around the country for more than a decade. He tailors his presentations for each event, harnessing stunning visuals and sound and a naturalist’s heart to fascinate — and ultimately inspire — his audiences.
“
I am still thinking about your keynote, particularly that segment on India. From my perspective, your keynote was the best one we have had.
– Diana Samuels, Winter Wings Festival Coordinator
BOOKING
For booking inquiries, please contact Annalisa Ball at annalisa.ball@comcast.net
TOPICS
Gerrit’s most requested talks are listed below. He will also customize a presentation just for your group.
INSPIRATIONAL KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS
Conservation Expeditions
Ever wonder what it would be like to watch a Spoon-billed Sandpiper hatch on the Siberian tundra or wake up in a blind surrounded by the sights and sounds of displaying Greater Sage-Grouse? From long distance migrant shorebirds in Alaska, to the endangered Greater Adjutant stork in India, to the sagebrush steppe of the American West, Gerrit will share breathtaking media and his experiences capturing intimate moments in the lives of birds.
The Global Life of Shorebirds
Each fall, shorebirds around the world depart arctic breeding grounds, where they have performed elaborate courtship displays and raised the next generation, and migrate vast distances to wintering areas as far south as Tierra del Fuego and New Zealand. Their migrations include the longest known non-stop flights of any birds on earth. Along their migration routes, they utilize critical wetland stopover habitats where they rest and feed to fuel their movements. In this presentation, Gerrit will provide an intimate view into the lives, ecology, and conservation of some of the most remarkable and imperiled birds on earth.
Capturing the Lives of Alaska’s Birds
From the outer Aleutian Islands to drifting sea ice in the Chukchi Sea to remote tundra field camps on the arctic coastal plain, Gerrit has traveled to the fringes of our wildest state to capture the sights, sounds, and spectacles of birdlife, many for the first time. Visit Alaska’s largest seabird colonies on St. George Island, witness an intimate moment at the nest of a Bar-tailed Godwit, and see the massive migration of King Eiders as they head north to breed.
The Living Bird
The Living Bird takes us on an intimate exploration of birdlife through sight and song and explores the eye-opening connection we make with the natural world when we stop to look and listen. From the enjoyment they provide in our daily lives, to the fascination their remarkable capabilities and feats inspire, to the lessons we can learn about the state of our planet through monitoring and observation, the appeal of watching and listening to birds leads us into a greater understanding of their environment—and of ours.
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
Coming Soon! Contact me for more information.
EVENTS
Find Gerrit at these upcoming public presentations and events.
UPCOMING
December 13, 2023
Alaska Bird Conference, Alaska Museum, Anchorage, Alaska
Keynote: Capturing the Lives of Alaska's Birds
April 27, 2024
Washington Ornithological Society, Chautauqua Resort, Long Beach, Washington
Keynote: The Global Life of Shorebirds
PAST PRESENTATIONS
May 5, 2023
Copper River Delta Shorebird Festival, Cordova, Alaska
Keynote: The Global Life of Shorebirds
April 3, 2022
Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, Revolution Hall, Portland, Oregon
Appearance and Film Screening: Izembek
February 20, 2020
The Burke Museum, Seattle, Washington
Keynote: Pacific Flyway
February 19, 2020
Town Hall Speaker Series, Seattle, Washington
Keynote: Pacific Flyway
February 14, 2020
Winter Wings Festival, Klamath Falls, Oregon
Keynote: Conservation Expeditions
December 1, 2019
Portland Audubon Nature Night, Hollywood Theater, Portland, Oregon
Appearance and Film Screening: Hargila
March 23, 2018
Ding Darling Lecture Series, Sanibel Island, Florida
Speaker: The Living Bird
November 14, 2017
WildSpeak 2017, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington D.C.
Featured Speaker: Long Distance Migrants: Global Shorebird Crises
April 21, 2016
Portland Audubon Society Speaker Series, Portland, Oregon
Presentation and Book Signing: The Living Bird
April 20, 2016
Live Wire Radio, Mississippi Studios, Portland, Oregon
Appearance and Book Signing: The Living Bird
April 19, 2016
Seattle Audubon Speaker Series, The Royal Room, Seattle, Washington
Presentation and Book Signing: The Living Bird
April 16, 2016
Copperfield Books, Santa Rosa, California
Presentation and Book Signing: The Living Bird
April 15, 2016
Copperfield Books, San Rafael, California
Presentation and Book Signing: The Living Bird
January 26, 2016
Hawaii Wetlands and Waterbirds Conference, Ko’olau Conference Center, Oahu, Hawaii
Keynote: Pacific Migratory Birds Connections and Conservation
January 7, 2016
High Desert Museum, Bend, Oregon
Appearance and Film Screening: The Sagebrush Sea
December 10, 2015
Vashon Audubon Society
Presentation and Book Signing: The Living Bird
December 6, 2015
Village Books, Bellingham, Washington
Presentation and Book Signing: The Living Bird
December 5, 2015
Eagle Harbor Books, Bainbridge Island, Washington
Presentation and Book Signing: The Living Bird
November 21, 2015
Portland Audubon Wild Arts Festival, Montgomery Park, Portland, Oregon
Presentation and Book Signing: The Living Bird
November 2, 2015
Monday Night Seminar, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY
Presentation and Book Signing: The Living Bird
October 28, 2015
Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver, Colorado
Appearance and Film Screening: The Sagebrush Sea
October 15, 2015
Third Place Books, Seattle, Washington
Presentation and Book Signing: The Living Bird
May 18, 2015
Center for the Arts, Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Appearance and Film Screening: The Sagebrush Sea
December 11, 2014
Alaska Bird Conference, Centennial Hall, Juneau, Alaska
Keynote: Capturing the Lives of Beringian Birds
January 26, 2014
Nuttall Ornithological Club, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Featured Speaker: Expeditions to Capture the Spoon-billed Sandpiper