Monitoring birds - Protecting waters - Inspiring change
Our Story: From Our Founders
The History
For over 65 years, an annual spring ritual has occurred across the Great Lakes. Fearless pilots and observers scan the land for bald eagle nests located at the top of huge pines and aspens recording which nests are active and later, how many nestlings have hatched. Climbers in safety gear ascend up to 140 feet to the nests, while scientists on the ground measure the nestlings, sample blood and feathers, band, and return them to the nest unharmed. In a similar effort, since the 1920s, other waterbirds have been surveyed, monitored, and banded, such as terns, gulls, cormorants, and herons. These studies of fish-eating birds form the basis of a globally important monitoring and research program that is focused on sustaining bird populations, but also helping to understand the changes in our environment, the health of aquatic ecosystems, and ultimately, understanding human exposure, disease and the effects of pollutants.
However, different threats impacting the ability to keep these programs going have arisen this past decade. First, the success of banning harmful chemicals and the resurgence of these birds meant other projects were deemed more needy of funding. The Covid-19 pandemic caused gaps in data collection since people were not going into the field to conduct this work. In 2022, a deadly variant of bird flu devastated waterbird colonies and greatly impacted 40% of the breeding pairs of eagles in Michigan. Even with these challenges, dedicated researchers have maintained these programs, even in years with large funding cuts, until 2025, when Federal funding essentially dried up for nearly every field research project across the U.S. Dire times led to creative solutions. This is how we began.
Our Story
On May 19, 2025, Dr. Bill Bowerman, Dr. Mike Wierda and Jennifer Day were driving down a rural road in Kalamazoo County, Michigan on their way to a bald eagle nest. This was Bill’s 41st field season conducting his on-going research monitoring nestling bald eagles in nests across Michigan. But this summer was different.
With Bill as the primary investigator and researcher, and Mike, Bill’s long-time tree climber and research partner, traveling to nests across the state had made up a portion of their field season for years. Never at a loss for funding this important work, Bill found himself without the promised 2025 money he had secured from the Federal government. Wanting to maintain the over 60 year monitoring project and more than 100,000 samples collected, Bill was determined to keep the research going, funding it himself out of his own pocket.
Jennifer was out with Bill and Mike that day in May, volunteering her time in the field, as collecting blood and feather samples, banding, and measuring the growth of feisty eaglets, weighing seven pounds or more, takes three people to make it easy. While driving to the nest, Bill and Jennifer were catching up - Jennifer explaining her recent retirement from 35 years as an environmental communicator and educator on the Great Lakes and looking for the next chapter in her story, and Bill explaining about his loss of funding that year for some of the same reasons.
Then, the idea for the WINGS OVER WATER RESEARCH INSTITUTE was born. Starting their own non-profit organization, to raise money for similar research and monitoring that needs to be done rather than a grants-only approach will fund to do. Long-term monitoring projects are hard to fund, so the eagle and waterbird work is always struggling. For the data and trends of contaminants, impacts of climate change, recovery of species, sentinel monitoring for diseases, a holistic approach is needed and must be sustainable. The mission was identified, one that changes the model for funding, has very low overhead costs, expands the geography where the work is done, and the types of species studied. Bill, Mike and Jennifer also discussed the need to provide funding and training in field research methods to graduate students, our next generation of scientists, doing this type of work. We then contacted Dr. Keith Grasman, who specializes in waterbirds and pollution impacts, to join our group. And just like that, this trip to an eagle’s nest helped them to write not only their next chapter, but a mission impacting research, students, citizens and communities into the future.
Our Passion
Bill loves engaging with local graduate students and citizens when he is working at a nest. He invites groups out to almost every site to watch him work, with a lucky few helping on the ground to collect samples. He has engaged with more than 10,000 citizens over the years, giving them information about bald eagles and explaining the importance and use of the data collected. Every person invited out to a nest leaves with a deep appreciation for what the blood of birds can tell us. Monitoring the eagles and collecting their blood and feathers, and analysing for toxic contaminants, can tell us about water quality, the quality of the environment around the nest and, for example, the impacts and results of expensive environmental clean up in rivers historically polluted by industry. The act of participating on the ground and at the nest has inspired change and action with every citizen he has met.
As we work to create Wings Over Water Research Institute, the excitement about our mission is growing. We have brought in additional researchers, expanded the species that are monitored, and the research sites and geography of our work. Other areas across the country have reached out and in addition to Michigan, Voyagers National Park and the Great Lakes region, we are talking with researchers and others in the Chesapeake Bay area and across the United States.
Our Commitment
The Wings Over Water Research Institute is dedicated to the long-term monitoring of bald eagles and fish-eating waterbird populations as sensitive indicators of water quality. We produce high-quality research, outreach and education, providing the data needed to manage avian populations and engage the public on critical environmental issues and act. Founded in 2025, WOWRI was created to fill research funding cuts, build on long-running studies that are the foundation of this important work, and create a new model for funding environmental research.
<--- My eggs and blood tell a story, help me share it.
Help Our Cause
Donate by Check
Please make checks out to SEE with our name, Wings Over Water Research Institute, written in the memo.
Mail to:
Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE)
23564 Calabasas Road, Suite 201
Calabasas, CA 91302
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