Sydney Walsh

Staff Photographer
About

Sydney Walsh is the Staff Photographer at 51ÁÔÆæÈë¿Ú.  explores the connection between humans and the natural world to document climate change and conservation stories. She has photographed for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, NPR, NBC News, and The Guardian, among others.

Articles by Sydney Walsh

A bird flying with green grass in the foreground and blue water in the background
Twenty Years Later: How Hurricane Katrina Changed the Coast—And the Birds That Call It Home
August 18, 2025 — Meet some of the leaders driving Gulf restoration in Louisiana and Mississippi.
DELTA Coastal Resilience
Building Resilience in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina
August 15, 2025 — Twenty years later, restoration and recovery continue in this vulnerable coastal city.
DELTA Coastal Resilience
A woman stands outside with her eyes closed holding her phone up to her ear.
A First-of-Its-Kind Event Helps Blind Birders Build Community
June 05, 2025 — We spoke with some of the more than 150 blind and visually impaired birders who participated in the celebration to learn about the challenges they face and the joy they find in the outdoors.
Birding News
Listening to the Land—and the Birds
June 03, 2025 — How Counting Birds Like Black-chinned Sparrows and Lazuli Buntings Guides Conservation on California’s Working Ranches
CALIFORNIA
aerial view of a living shoreline
New Segments of Living Shorelines Completed
April 07, 2025 — 51ÁÔÆæÈë¿Ú Florida has worked with local, state, and federal partners to protect these iconic species and their habitat at the Florida Coastal Islands Sanctuaries since 1934.
FLORIDA Coastal Stewardship
A bird flying with rocks and grass in the background
At Alaska’s Yakutat Tern Festival, Seabirds and Local Culture Soar
February 12, 2025 — The annual event highlights the remote village’s terns and Alaska Native community.
News
An aerial view of an all-terrain vehicle driving through a landscape
First Nations Are On the Cusp of a Big Marine Conservation Win in Canada—and They Have Even Bigger Plans
December 02, 2024 — Indigenous communities in Ontario are leading a campaign to protect critical portions of a vast inland sea that people, migratory birds, and other wildlife all rely upon. Can they conserve the coastline and carbon-storing peatlands, too?
Boreal Forests
People with binoculars walking in an urban park.
Science Is Revealing the Social Disparities at the Root of Urban Ecosystems
November 22, 2024 — When it comes to biodiversity, research shows not all neighborhoods are created equal. They’re defined by injustices past and present.
Field Notes
Mining Could Pollute Alaska’s Chilkat Valley. A Tribe and Local Groups Defend their Way of Life.
September 27, 2024 — Inside the fight for the watershed with the Chilkat Indian Village of Klukwan, residents in Haines, and 51ÁÔÆæÈë¿Ú Alaska.
News
Person with binoculars on ladder leading to rooftop with clouds in the background (left). Wooden chick shelter that reads "51ÁÔÆæÈë¿Ú" in green paint (right).
Coastal Birds Are Ditching the Beach to Nest on Rooftops
May 22, 2024 — Each summer, conservationists around the country protect birds that nest atop buildings as development and sea-level rise erase natural beach habitat. But is this a long-term solution?
News