A former New York State Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner has been tapped to lead Audubon New York.
Erin Crotty has been selected as the executive director and vice president for New York’s largest bird conservation organization, becoming Audubon New York’s first woman leader. Audubon New York is the 50,000 member state program of the National Audubon Society. Crotty was also the first woman to head the state’s DEC, where she was commissioner from 2001-2005, under Governor George Pataki. She currently directs Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s State and Community Relations program. Crotty, who will begin work in early April, succeeds outgoing Executive Director Albert Caccese, who announced his retirement earlier this year after ten years with Audubon New York.