Sometimes natural disasters have a way of rerouting a person’s life. In Trish O’Kane’s case, she transformed from a civil rights journalist to an ornithologist and environmental activist, a journey she recounts in her nonfiction book, “Birding to Change the World.”
O’Kane, currently an environmental studies professor at the University of Vermont, moved to New Orleans to teach journalism at Loyola University with her husband on Aug. 1, 2005. Three weeks later, Hurricane Katrina hit, and everything they had was underwater.
When she returned in January 2006, O’Kane put up bird feeders in the yard of her rented house, and she began to watch the birds, becoming fascinated with house sparrows. This “birding fix” grew and helped her heal. Inspired by her newfound love for nature, she applied to and completed a Ph.D. program in environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.…