Trish O'Kane

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Jim Carrier

A close-up of Trish O'Kane.

Trish O'Kane

As part of the Wisconsin Book Festival, former Madisonian Trish O’Kane reads from her new memoir, Birding to Change the World (HarperCollins). The environmentalist and journalist tells of her journey from a Katrina-ravaged New Orleans to Madison to join a Ph.D. program in environmental studies. But the true star of the book is Madison’s own Warner Park, where O’Kane found both dozens of species of birds and a pileup of threatening environmental issues, from over-paving to water-poisoning fireworks to goose-killing. O’Kane — now a lecturer in environmental justice at the University of Vermont — should pull a good crowd of old friends, but this is also a must for anyone who seeks meaningful engagement with one’s own neighborhood. Read Linda Falkenstein’s story here.

media release: Presented in partnership with Wild Warner

In this uplifting memoir, a professor and activist shares what birds can teach us about life, social change, and protecting the environment.

Trish O’Kane is an accidental ornithologist. In her nearly two decades writing about justice as an investigative journalist, she'd never paid attention to nature. But then Hurricane Katrina destroyed her New Orleans home, sending her into an emotional tailspin. 

Enter a scrappy cast of feathered characters—first a cardinal, urban parrots, and sparrows, then a catbird, owls, a bittern, and a woodcock—that cheered her up and showed her a new path. Inspired, O’Kane moved to Madison, Wisconsin to pursue an environmental studies PhD. There she became a full-on bird obsessive—logging hours in a stunningly diverse urban park, filling field notebooks with bird doings and dramas, and teaching ornithology to college and middle school kids.

When Warner Park—her daily birdwatching haven—was threatened with development, O’Kane and her neighbors mustered a mighty murmuration of nature-lovers, young and old, to save the birds’ homes. Through their efforts, she learned that once you get outside and look around, you're likely to fall in love with a furred or feathered creature and find a flock of your own.

In Birding to Change the World, O’Kane details the astonishing science of bird life, from migration and parenting to the territorial defense strategies that influenced her own activism. A warm and compelling weave of science and social engagement, this is the story of an improbable band of birdlovers who saved their park. And it is a blueprint for muscular citizenship, powered by joy.