The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy is happy to announce that we have recently welcomed Cindy Slater to the Board of Directors as an organizational director representing the Brooks Bird Club.

Slater’s birding journey began with her parents, who were active in the Brooks Bird Club and many other nature organizations in West Virginia. Her childhood vacations were spent camping and exploring areas like Spruce Knob, Gaudineer Knob, Seneca Rocks, Dolly Sods Wilderness Area, Blackwater Falls, Middle Mountain, Olsen fire tower, Big Run Bog, Otter Creek Wilderness Area, and many other West Virginia treasures. As a kid, it felt like her own personal playground. 

“My first Bird Club Foray was at Camp Thornwood in Pocahontas County, which took my love for nature to a whole new level,” she said. Before that foray, my passion was in plants because the plants stood still. The way the Brooks Bird Club studied birds was very scientific, with study plots and breeding bird surveys; it really opened my eyes to the natural world. The way folks took me under their wing to help teach me what they knew was something very special.”

These opportunities allowed her to learn all aspects of nature and understand how important preservation is. 

“I think supporting public lands, natural habitats, and sensible management styles for habitats is also very important in the big picture, yet it never seems like we do enough to help protect them for future generations,” Slater said. “We really need to be smart about our decisions as a whole. The natural resource economy and recreational growth are important, but we must also be mindful and compatible with ecological needs.”

Slater is a life member of the Brooks Bird Club, serving multiple terms on the board, and is currently the Club’s immediate Past President. She resides in Bridgeport, West Virginia, and works for the Monongalia County Health Department as a Nutritionist II for the state. 

She has been a West Virginia Wildflower Pilgrimage Leader for over 25 years, has taught bird identification at Oglebay Institute’s Junior Nature Camp, and is on the Oglebay Institute Friends of the Schrader Center board. 

Slater admitted that it is undoubtedly difficult to pinpoint a favorite place in West Virginia. Still, she conceded, “I am very fond of Tucker and Pocahontas County, although I have not yet found a place in West Virginia that I didn’t love.”