The Bird is the Word

Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia, President of the Mountaineer Audubon, environmental conservative, teacher, writer, mom, and bird lover. These are just a few of the titles that Katie Fallon holds in her life. 

Fallon lived a pretty interesting childhood. With her first word being “bird,” her life as an environmentalist and bird lover was pretty much set in stone. 

“I always spent a lot of time outside as a kid, both with my horses and just kind of wondering around outside,” said Fallon. “I would just go around and climb trees, find interesting objects and touch them, and pretend things were fossils that actually weren’t.”

Fallon grew up feeling a need to protect the places she loved to spend time in: the outdoors. This encouraged her to go to Penn State University to study wildlife and fisheries. However, after failing her chemistry class, Fallon decided the big science classes weren’t for her, and instead switched to English after enjoying it in her undergrad. 

After graduating from Penn State, Fallon decided to move out of her home state for the first time to get her Master’s degree in creative writing at West Virginia University. It was then that her love for birds really bloomed. 

“My husband and I had an interest in birds, but we weren’t really crazy bird people yet,” said Fallon with a laugh, “But then it became that way.” 

In 2012, Fallon, her husband Jesse, and two of her friends had an idea. With her love for birds, her husband’s career as a vet, and her friend’s occupations as both biologist and bird trainer, they decided to found the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia with a mission to “conserve the region’s wild birds through research, education, and rehabilitation,” according to Fallon.

“We really thought there was a need in this part of the state for a bird conservation center that focused on non native birds,” said Fallon. “However, we had to think really hard about what to call it because we wanted to say that we were more than just rehab or education, so we thought conservation covered all of that.”

With help from the Cheat Lake Animal Hospital, this dream was able to come true. 

“We are located on the same property as the Cheat Lake Animal Hospital, so our birds get 24 hour vet care when they need it, which is really unique because not a lot of places have the ability to offer that,” said Fallon

However, this wasn’t enough for Fallon. Eventually, she used her writing skills to publish several books about the importance of conserving birds and their habitats. 

“I wanted to spread the word about something I love, and to get people to know about these issues that I think are really important to the health of everybody on the planet,” said Fallon.“So if the thing I do and am trained at is being a writer, then I wanted to use that as a vehicle to spread a message of conservation.”

In her most recent book, “Vulture,” which came out in 2017, Fallon focused on saving the reputation of the region’s vultures by educating readers on their ecosystem values.

 “They’re really just the coolest birds,” said Fallon.

According to Fallon, vultures have the ability to promote healthy ecosystems by eating dead carcasses and neutralizing any diseases that could have been spread by other animals.

“I wanted to get people to think about these animals that might not be as dramatic or charismatic as an eagle, but are still very important,” said Fallon.

Fallon has also written other books, including two children’s books, “Look, See the Bird!” and “Look, See the Farm!” LeJay Graffious, who works closely with Fallon in a number of organizations, said he has read all of the books she has written so far. 

“I love her ‘Cerulean’ and ‘Vulture’ books because she weaves the natural history of the birds with her personal experiences,” said Graffious, “Her love of birds really shines brightly in her writing.”

Besides writing books, Fallon is also involved in a number of other activities, such as president of the Mountaineer Audubon, an organization that supports bird conservation, and as marketing manager for the Cheat Lake farmers market. These are just some of the other ways Fallon dedicates herself to the environment.

“I aim to save the planet,” said Fallon, “And I think a lot of these organizations have similar goals and I’m just in the middle trying to make all the connections between them.”

Fallon said that she doesn’t really have a balance in her life, but that most of what she does runs into each other. However, she still finds it hard to keep up with the things she wants to do, especially with being a mom of three. 

“There’s just not enough time to do everything,” said Fallon. “I am fortunate to like a lot of things, but I just can’t do them all and that can be frustrating.”

However, Fallon said she hopes to write more and plans to continue her involvement as much as she can for years to come. 

 “There’s really nothing else I’d rather be doing,” said Fallon.