by Edge Wade, David Erickson, Lori Turner

The Missouri birding community lost a dear friend this week.  Susan Hazelwood passed away Sunday, August 28^th after a long battle with cancer.

Susan’s contributions to non-profit organizations in Missouri are inspiring and we cannot measure the positive impact she has had to our Missouri birding community and habitat restoration efforts.

Susan joined Columbia Audubon Society and found birding companions and mentors, including Ike Adams, Jim Wallace, Bill Goodge, Don Duncan, and Brad Jacobs.  She contributed to the Columbia birding community as field trip leader, board member, vice president and president of CAS, and Christmas Bird Count coordinator. She was also very active in watershed protection and working with the Friends of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park to protect the park resources. She was a founding member of the Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative. Visit mobci.net to read her tribute from longtime Treasurer of the MoBCI Foundation, Dave Erickson.

She represented the Columbia Audubon chapter as a devoted and active member of the Missouri Audubon Council during the 1980s and 1990s as the group tackled a host of conservation and environmental challenges.  She then served a term on the Audubon Missouri Board of Trustees.

Susan held a degree in Life Sciences and had pursued an M.S. in invertebrate physiology. She conducted breeding bird surveys, was a certified Master Naturalist, and held leadership positions in MoBCI, The Missouri Birding Society, and several other organizations.

Susan did not wish to have a service and asked that her ashes be scattered in Alligator Alley, Florida alongside Don Hazelwood. The full obituary can be found here: https://www.columbiamissourian.com/obituaries/family_obituary/susan-elizabeth-hazelwood-sept-8-1948-aug-28-2022/article_4e3ff244-27cf-11ed-962e-8736cbeab526.html

She asked for any donations to be made to the Missouri Prairie Foundation or to MBS’s Graduate Research Scholarship fund.  She served 15 years on that scholarship committee.  The address for contributions to the Graduate Research Scholarship is:

The Missouri Birding Society
2101 W. Broadway
PMB 122
Columbia, MO 65203-1261

If you have a fond memory you’d like to share please send them for inclusion in MBS’s quarterly journal, The Bluebird, to Edge Wade at edgew@mchsi.com.