David Yarnold (born November 26, 1952) was the president and CEO of the
National Audubon Society. He became the conservation organization's 10th president in September, 2010.
Biography
He was born in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, and earned a B.A. degree at
San Jose State University
San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...
in 1976. In 2005 he moved from San Jose to
Dobbs Ferry, New York
Dobbs Ferry is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 10,875 according to the 2010 United States Census. In 2019, its population rose to an estimated 11,027. The village of Dobbs Ferry is located in, and is a p ...
where he lives with his wife, freelance writer Fran Smith, and their daughter, Nicole. He has a son, Adam, in New York City.
[White, Dana. (2001-02-24) "For the Birds" Westchester Magazine. Retrieved 2012-01-04.](_blank)
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National Audubon Society
Yarnold is a believer in the power of social media which he believes will lead to, "a younger, more diverse audience to help us create the Audubon of the future . . . This isn't your grandmother's Audubon anymore"
He oversees Audubon's Important Bird Area program, and Audubon's flyways based approach to conservation developed under his leadership.
Yarnold has also been vocal about the need for climate change action and is an advocate for Gulf restoration.
In November 2020, Yarnold was hit by claims of "intimidation and threats" according to an article posted on Politico.
''San Jose Mercury News''
He joined the ''San Jose Mercury News
''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...
'' as photo editor in 1978, and Yarnold eventually became the paper's editor and senior vice president. During his time there, he was influential in raising awareness about diversity in the journalism professions: he created "Time Out for Diversity and Accuracy" for the Associated Press Managing Editors Association and the Diversity Leadership Institute for the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
While assistant managing editor of paper's afternoon edition, the ''San Jose Mercury News'' won a Pulitzer Prize for general reporting for its coverage of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. An investigation into local government corruption in 2004 led to his selection as one of three finalists for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing.
Environmental Defense Fund
Yarnold began working at the Environment Defense Fund in 2005; in 2008 he was promoted to executive director and president of the Environmental Defense Action Fund, the group's legislative arm. In that role, he focused on corporate environmental practices and market-based approaches to greenhouse-gas reduction in China, co-led the EDF's joint authorship of California's AB32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, and co-chaired the founding committee of the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a coalition of businesses and environmental organizations promoting national climate change legislation.
Recognition and honors
Yarnold is the recipient of the Ida B. Wells Award for Diversity (2003), the Catalyst Award for Diversity Leadership (2003), the Edom award for Inspirational Leadership (1998), and numerous journalism prizes, including the National Headliner Award for editorial writing (2005). He helped direct ''The Mercury News'' Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and was one of three finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing in 2005. Under his leadership, ''The Mercury News'' was named one of the five best designed newspapers in the world and called "America's Boldest Newspaper.''
His article "Don’t Throw Bald Eagles Under the Bus" appeared on the April 12th, 2016 SAT test as the prompt for the student-produced essay response.
Articles and publications
Yarnold publishes frequent opinion pieces on energy policy, bird conservation and other environmental topics, and is a contributor to ''The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' and ''Audubon'' magazine's blog "The Perch". He has been featured by news sources such as CNN, NPR, BBC, PBS, MSNBC, Politico Magazine and ''The New York Times''.New York Times, 2012-1-3
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References
External links
National Audubon Society
Sarasota Herald Tribune Op-Ed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yarnold, David
Living people
American environmentalists
The Mercury News people
1953 births
Activists from Los Angeles
20th-century American newspaper editors
American male journalists
21st-century American newspaper editors
Editors of California newspapers
San Jose State University alumni