Birkley planned to take part in our Reuse Reduce Regalia program for his graduation that was supposed to happen in May of 2024.
Birkley was fascinated by the natural world. From a very early age his toys and clothes and much of what he did revolved around animals and nature. Whether camping and playing in a stream or collecting shells on the beach, he was drawn to environmental questions and problems. Given what we saw in his growing up, we were not at all surprised when he decided he wanted to get his degree through UGA’s Odum School of Ecology. As we are working to establish the Birkley Heynen Environmental Foundation, we are grateful that the leadership at School of Ecology are interested in partnering with us as we move forward.
The 2023-2024 issue of EcoVoice, the Odum School of Ecology magazine, had this remembrances of Birk, that included:
“As a middle schooler, Birkley fell in love with sea turtles while visiting the Georgia Sea Turtle Center in Jekyll Island. He saw his first sea turtle in the wild while studying in Costa Rica during fall 2023, where he researched the effects of flow on leaf decomposition, respiration and algal colonization in tropical streams. When he returned to Athens, he applied for and received a sustainability grant for a project focusing on how trash traps affect organic matter dynamics in urban streams.”
Thank you to all the Odum School of Ecology faculty and staff who made such an important impact on Birkley when he was alive, and who have worked hard to ensure his positive legacy since his passing. We look forward to working with you to do important things through this foundation moving forward.
