Amanda Rodewald is the Senior Director of the Center for Avian Population Studies at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a Faculty Director at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, and a professor in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University. She is also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Ornithological Society and serves on the Science Advisory Board of the U.S. EPA. Professor Rodewald’s work integrates ecology, conservation biology, participatory science, and social sciences and has resulted in over 185 scientific publications, more than 70 popular articles, Congressional testimony, and innovative approaches to conserve biodiversity while accommodating social and ecological needs.
Rethinking Migration
Event Overview
Let’s take the politics out of migration and pause to understand why birds and people migrate and what similarities and differences exist between their migration patterns. Let’s also consider what individuals, communities, and policymakers can do to rethink migration and develop sustainable solutions that recognize that we live in an interdependent world. Globally, we need solutions that benefit the planet and humans alike.
This event is co-sponsored by the Cornell Law School Migration and Human Rights Program and the Cornell Migrations Initiative.
What You'll Learn
- What migration is, why it happens, and the challenges encountered by migrating people and birds
- How migration is changing globally and the consequences it brings
- Why we need to rethink migration policies from environmental and social perspectives to better support people, birds, and the planet
- What you can do to create welcoming communities for people and birds on the move
Speakers
Marielena Hincapié is a Distinguished Immigration Law and Policy Fellow in Cornell Law School’s Migration and Human Rights Program as well as a New America (ASU Future Security) Fellow, 2026. She was named by Northeastern Law’s Judith Olans Brown Forum for Women in the Law as its Practitioner-in-Residence for 2025-2026.
Marielena served as the executive director of the Los Angeles-based National Immigration Law Center (NILC) and the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund (IJF) until November 2022. She began her tenure at NILC in 2000 as a staff attorney leading the organization’s labor and employment program. During that time, Marielena successfully litigated law reform and impact-litigation cases at the intersection of immigration and employment/labor laws.
Marielena serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of The Management Center, as a member of the General Board of Trustees of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and as a member of the Supervisory Committee of the Finanta Credit Union.
Marielena earned her Juris Doctor degree from Northeastern University School of Law and is a sought-after speaker and media figure. The youngest of ten children, Marielena is from Medellín, Colombia, and grew up in Central Falls, Rhode Island. She is writing a narrative nonfiction book, Becoming America: A Personal History of a Nation’s Immigration Wars (Flatiron Books).