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Matthew Danihel Engagement Coordinator since 2020 Works with American Kestrel Partnership (AKP), Global Raptor Impact Network (GRIN), and Engagement Programs

Matthew Danihel is the Engagement Coordinator for The Peregrine Fund. A 2009 graduate of Delaware Valley University’s wildlife conservation & management program, Matthew began his career in conservation as a wildlife technician with the New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife. The position saw him oversee the creation of the reTURN the Favor, a volunteer program that has gone on to rescue over half a million overturned and impinged horseshoe crabs, as well as the installation of one of the first MOTUS telemetry arrays for tracking wildlife in the United States.

Since then, Matthew’s career has seen him travel all over the US and Canada working with birds, ranging from surveying wintering shorebirds in South Carolina, banding songbirds in Ontario, running a bioacoustic monitoring station in Idaho, nest-searching and banding shorebirds and waterfowl in Alaska, and more. He holds a Certified Professional Bird Trainer - Knowledge Assessed (CPBT-KA) certification in ambassador bird training from the International Avian Trainers Certification Board, as well as a bander level certification in songbird banding from the North American Banding Council.

Matthew’s passions lie with connecting the public to their wild neighbors and using these connections to inspire conservation action. Scientific data may be the ammunition that will win the battle to save species, but it is a caring and invested public that will be the soldiers. Matthew is dedicated to enlisting their support one presentation, one video, one photo, one connection at a time.

When not at work Matthew enjoys hiking and birdwatching, playing piano and mandolin poorly, and failing to finish that novel he’s been working on for several years now. If you haven’t been able to get a hold of him, he’s probably asleep.