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      ECOC Lecture

      Hornbills, Macaws and Birds of Paradise: Filming Birds for Science and Conservation

      Friday, December 11, 2026 from 7:45—9 pm

      Scarlet macaw flying through the rainforest

      Know before you go
       

      Morse Auditorium
      Free
      This event is co-hosted by the Essex County Ornithological Club. A brief meeting of the club will be held from 7:30–7:45 pm. All are welcome to attend!

      Over the past ten years, Tim Laman has aimed his camera at charismatic bird species, trying to tell their stories to raise conservation awareness. In partnership with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Netflix and the BBC, Laman has made films about critically endangered Helmeted Hornbills, Birds-of-Paradise and Scarlet Macaws and the people trying to save them from chick poachers.

      In this presentation, he will share the stories of these projects and discuss the potential impacts of different styles of natural history films, as well as the potential for scientific discovery during filming projects. The hope is that by telling the stories of these charismatic species we can make an impact for conservation, not only for the birds, but also for their forest habitats and all their other inhabitants. 

      This event is co-hosted by the Essex County Ornithological Club and sponsored by The Echo Charitable Foundation.

      About our collaborator

      Tim Laman
      Tim Laman

      Tim Laman has spent his life exploring earth's wild places and sharing the stories of rare and endangered wildlife as a field biologist, wildlife photographer and filmmaker. He received his Ph.D. in biology from Harvard University for his pioneering research in the rainforest canopy in Borneo, and he has participated in over one hundred scientific and photographic expeditions to remote regions around the world. He is best known for his work documenting all the species of Birds-of-Paradise in the wild, and for his collaboration with his wife, Boston University scientist Cheryl Knott, on orangutan research and conservation in Indonesian Borneo. 

      Laman has photographed 25 stories for National Geographic magazine, and his cinematography has featured in many acclaimed documentaries for National Geographic, the BBC and Netflix, and in conservation films produced by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. He is a fellow of the Explorers Club and a founding member of the International League of Conservation Photographers, and he has garnered numerous international awards, including the overall title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year. 

      When not traveling the world with too much excess baggage, he lives in Lexington, Massachusetts.

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