Airs Wednesday, September, 15. 2021, at 6 p.m. On this debut episode of Conserving Earth, Host Janice Bezanson is joined by Ben Jones, Executive Director of the Texas Conservation Alliance, to talk about the impact of light pollution on migrating birds and how buildings and cities such as Dallas, Houston and Austin are participating in Lights Out to protect migrating birds, how other cities can take steps to do the same, as well as how individuals can help by flipping a switch.
Janice Bezanson, senior policy director of Texas Conservation Alliance, has 40 years’ experience protecting rivers, forests, prairies, and other rich wildlife habitats. Janice has successfully campaigned for over 100,000 acres of state and federal wildlife areas that protect diverse habitats. She has organized opposition to damming pristine rivers, saving tens of thousands of aquatic and bottomland “critters” from being left homeless. Her input to state water planning has spanned several decades.
Janice has served on numerous boards and advisory boards. She has been honored by National Wildlife Federation, Audubon, Chevron, the Big Thicket Association, and other colleague groups, and was featured in the Women Shaping Texas in the 20th Century exhibit at the Bob Bullock State History Museum.
Benjamin Jones grew up in southeast Texas spending much of his childhood happily lost in the Big Thicket’s pine forests and along the marshes and beaches of the Gulf coast.
He graduated from Texas A&M University with bachelors and master’s degrees in the sciences, then worked for Arthur Andersen, the National Audubon Society, and the Dallas Zoo.
Ben joined the Texas Conservation Alliance, state program of the National Wildlife Federation – our country’s largest wildlife organization – as executive director in 2020. He leads TCA’s work to protect Texas wildlife and their habitats across the state.