Our Coffee, Our Birds is a project by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that brings together coffee, community, and conservation. Its mission is to nurture regenerative agricultural practices across the coffee landscapes of Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua—places where the aroma of coffee intertwines with the song of countless birds.

Through this project, I’ve had the privilege of creating environmental education tools that connect people with the life that thrives in their own backyards. One of them is the Amigos del Café Guide, designed for teachers in coffee-growing regions. It invites students to discover the birds that share their world and to understand how caring for coffee farms can also mean caring for nature in Colombia and Costa Rica.

I’ve also designed illustrated posters that serve as visual bird guides for coffee farm workers, helping them recognize the species that visit their crops each day.

Alongside these, I’ve developed materials that encourage birdwatching and highlight why birds matter—not just to ecosystems, but to the stories and livelihoods woven through every coffee bean.