Alice Madden Named as Audubon’s New Senior Director for Climate

NEW YORK (February 21, 2024) – The National Audubon Society has named Alice Madden as the new senior director for climate, a position that places an emphasis on implementing the organization’s climate strategy at the state and local levels, as well as the nationwide acceleration of responsibly-sited renewable energy projects and transmission that avoids, mitigates, and minimizes harm to birds and other wildlife.

Madden previously served as the policy and political director for Greenpeace USA, where she launched the organization’s Policy and Advocacy Department and led the Democracy Resilience team. Prior to that she was the executive director of the Getches-Wilkinson Center of Natural Resources, Energy & the Environment at the University of Colorado School of Law; principal deputy assistant secretary, intergovernmental and external affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy; climate change advisor to Colorado governor Bill Ritter, Jr; and a state representative in the Colorado House of Representatives.

Audubon’s Survival By Degrees report found that two-thirds of North American bird species are vulnerable to extinction unless we reduce emissions and slow the rate of global temperature rise. Audubon believes that there is no path to stabilizing the climate without addressing biodiversity loss and dramatically changing how we produce electricity. Renewable energy and natural climate solutions have important roles to play in mitigating the impact of climate change — the single greatest threat to birds and other species. Audubon has set strategic goals of achieving 100 GW of new renewable energy generation and transmission sited by 2028, as well as storing 30 billion tons of carbon through nature-based solutions like forests, wetlands, and grasslands.

In her new role, which she will begin on March 4, Madden will work with the climate team, including the organization’s Clean Energy Initiative, to achieve a better, cleaner future for both people and wildlife.

The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow. A nonprofit conservation organization since 1905, Audubon works throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. Learn more at www.audubon.org and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @audubonsociety.

Contact: Robyn Shepherd, robyn.shepherd@audubon.org