We’re excited to announce the winner of this year’s Alan Duncan Bird Conservation Award, Trenton Schulz-Franco!
The Alan Duncan award is given annually to honor contributions to local bird conservation through the arts and sciences, celebrating individuals, groups or organizations that are leading the way in bird conservation within the Greater Vancouver region.
Trenton was nominated in 2024 and 2025 for facilitating a wide range of birding events that create “a wave of awareness and conservation efforts in our community”. Through Special Bird Service, Trenton has worked hard to create birding opportunities inclusive of BIPOC and 2SLGBTQ+ community. His work approaches birding from the lenses of art, ornithology, botany, and linguistics. Trenton has worked closely with museums, conservation organizations, outdoor merchandise brands, arts departments and Indigenous communities.
Trenton is a multimedia artist with a background in law, ecology, and geo-political commentary, as well as a passion for photography, canoe guiding, and cricket. Originally from the traditional and ancestral lands of the W̱SÁNEĆ communities and the lək̓ʷəŋən-speaking peoples on Vancouver Island, Trenton is the founder of the Special Bird Service Society (SBS), International Black Swift Stewardship Society (IBS) & the Nest Network. SBS is a community-focused organization dedicated to making nature more accessible for the Global Majority and 2SLGBTQ+ communities across the Salish Coast. Through birding-centered education, recreation, and habitat restoration initiatives, SBS fosters connection, inclusivity, and environmental stewardship.
On behalf of the Vancouver Bird Celebration Steering Committee, and Stanley Park Ecology Society, we would like to invite you all to join us in congratulating Trenton for his exemplary achievements in Bird Conservation.
Photo: Nathan Smith
