David Curson

David Curson, PhD, has been a part-time instructor in the AAP Environmental Science and Policy Program since 2003, where he teaches Principles and Methods of Ecology and Methods in Field Ecology.

Dave is Director of Bird Conservation at Audubon Maryland-DC, the Maryland state office of the National Audubon Society. Since 2004 he has overseen the Maryland-DC Important Bird Areas Program and implemented conservation projects for birds and their habitats in Maryland as well as leading grassroots advocacy and policy work. In recent years he has focused on climate adaptation of coastal systems and their obligate birds, leading innovative projects in tidal marshes and seabird nesting islands. He serves on the Management Board of the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture, a regional partnership to restore bird populations and habitats, and he served on the Adaptation and Response Working Group of the Maryland Climate Change Commission, helping the State of Maryland to identify scientific options for adapting to climate change. 

Dave’s career includes wildlife ecology research and conservation practice in the United States and his native England. He received his BSc in Ecology at the University of East Anglia and received MS and PhD degrees in the Department of Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His graduate research focused on the ecology and behavior of Brown-headed Cowbirds and their hosts in northern New Mexico.