Who Are We? The Pollinator Conservation Association
Board of Directors 2023-24
Brian Murphy President
David O’Donnell Vice President
David O’Donnell is a a highly regarded naturalist with a passion for conserving and protecting nature and natural landscapes. In 1999 he founded the Eastern Monarch Butterfly Farm in Clarence NY. This project has brought joy and education to thousands of people in our region including children, government representatives, and educators.
Through education and awareness he is hoping to begin changing the way we view landscaping, “ view your landscaping through the eyes of a pollinator” he often states. David has had the opportunity to network with many experts in the fields of entomology, horticulture, wildlife and environmental conservation. In addition to the PCA Board, David sits on the board for the( FINWR) Friends of Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge and is a long standing member of the (IBBA) International Butterfly Breeders Association, and the AFB( Association for Butterflies). Releasing over 1500 monarchs each year in Western New York and dispersing indigenous native plants, such as milkweed , EMBF through great organizations like the PCA, he advocates for individuals , local and state municipalities and others to reconnect with nature and the environment . The depletion of this iconic Monarch butterfly brings with it the message we all need to urgently become better stewards of our natural environment.
Jason Hoefler Treasurer
Jeffrey Hazel, Secretary
Sylvin Ashbrook
Bernadette Clabeaux
John (JD) Hartman
Terrance Robinson
William Siener
Jay Burney Executive Director/Special Projects Director
Writer, photographer, educator, naturalist, project and business developer and manager with over 40 years of experience in media, ecology, habitat, community engagement, and education.
He is the founding partner and International Chair of the Birds on the Niagara Festival. He is the founder and chair of the Friends of Times Beach Nature Preserve, the Habitat Chair of the Western New York Environmental Alliance, one of the founders of the Our Outer Harbor Campaign. Mr. Burney participated in and led Xerces Society Butterfly Counts in WNY. As vice-president of Buffalo Audubon he chaired the Niagara River Globally Significant Important Bird Area coalition which founded the NRIBA. He has served as a member of the Erie County Environmental Management Council with a focus on community engagement, conservation and biodiversity, and climate change. As the media director of the New York sustainable Agricultural Working Group Mr. Burney worked on pollinator conservation projects including conferences and educational projects. At his farm in Chaffee, New York he created one of the regions first pollinator conservation areas. As the executive director of the Buffalo Institute of Urban Ecology, Inc. Mr Burney was the director of the Learning Sustainability Conference held in association with SUNY-UB. Guests included Jane Goodall, Sylvia Earle, and David Suzuki. He also managed the Earth Day is Every Day program for Buffalo schools. He served for 8 years as the chair of the Lasalle Park Steering Committee, and 8 years as the chair of the City of Buffalo Cable Television Board. He created and directed the Western New York Environmental Roundtable which hosted meetings, discussions and events from 1994-2010. He co-founded with Paul MacClennan, Greenwatch, a media project covering environmental issues. He has been a media coordinator for a number of local and larger projects including the Global Justice Ecology Project. He has written and published numerous articles and created muti-media products on environment, ecology, and nature -including local pollinators and birds, and a guide to WNY Butterflies. In 2014 he was awarded the Bruce Kirshner “Conservationist of the Year” award by the Sierra Niagara Group of the Sierra Club.In July of 2018, Gerry Rising, long time nature columnist for the Buffalo News, and columnist for Buffalo Spree called him "our regions most important strategic conservationist." He is co-chair of the Niagara Greenway Pollinator Partnership.
Paul Fuhrmann
Ecologist, Restoration Specialist, Ecology and Environment, Inc.
Ecologist, Restoration Specialist, Ecology and Environment, Inc.