The Richard G. Levad Award

Award Description and Criteria

The award honors the memory of Rich Levad, who made outstanding contributions to Colorado ornithology throughout his career as a teacher and as a staff member of the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory.

Rich Levad taught English for more than 30 years at Central High School in Grand Junction and started working for RMBO after he retired from that position. He was a key player in starting RMBO’s Monitoring Colorado’s Birds program, which helped identify new breeding sites for such species as the Black Swift and Purple Martin, and he started Project Colony Watch, a volunteer-driven effort to gather data on 16 of Colorado’s colonial waterbird species. His book on the Black Swift is due to be published in the near future. Rich was the first recipient of the award in his name, in 2006. Nelda Gamble received the award last year.

The award recognizes persons who, like Rich in his incredibly productive lifetime, have provided distinguished service to the ornithological community, made scholarly contributions to the field of ornithology and/or have enthused others about conserving birds and their habitats through sharing their personal knowledge and experience.

Nomination Process

Nominations may be submitted on line (see below) or via the following downloadable form:
Rich G. Levad Award Nomination Form

The deadline for submission of all nominations is June 30. The award will be presented at the RMBO annual membership picnic in Brighton, CO on August 16.

Nominations can be made by anyone and should highlight a nominee’s contributions to ornithology, conservation, and/or their success in sharing their knowledge of birds with others.