Mya-Rose Craig | |
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 Mya-Rose Craig, in 2022 | |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | School student, ornithologist, activist, ecologist  |
| Awards | |
| Website | http://www.birdgirluk.com/ |
Mya-Rose Craig (born 7 May 2002), also known as Birdgirl, is a British birdwatcher, and author.
Craig attended Chew Valley School. [1] In June 2024, she graduated with a degree in Human, Social and Political Sciences from St John's College, Cambridge. [2]
Throughout nearly her entire life, Craig has pursued ornithology. Craig appeared on the 2010 BBC Four documentary "Twitchers: A Very British Obsession." Afterwards she appeared on Springwatch , Countryfile , and The One Show . [3] Her first newspaper column, “Birding Tales”, was published in the Chew Valley Gazette when she was 12. [4]
At age 11, she started her blog, Birdgirl, to share her passion for birds. The following year, she campaigned to raise $35,000 for a Bangladeshi charity to deal with the 2014 Sundarbans oil spill. [2] As her platform grew, she found herself wanting to explore topics beyond birds. By June 2022, the blog had attracted 6 million views. [5]
Craig was a "Bristol 2015 Ambassador" during the city's year as European Green Capital. [6] In 2018, she contributed to Chris Packham's A People’s Manifesto for Wildlife and was enlisted as the manifesto’s "minister of diversity". [7] Craig campaigned with Greta Thunberg at the Youth Strike 4 Climate event in Bristol in February 2020. [8] She has organized conferences featuring celebrity nature enthusiasts such as Bill Oddie, Chris Packham, and RSPB chief executive Beccy Speight. [9]
In September 20, 2020, in collaboration with Greenpeace, Craig organized a solitary climate strike on a piece of sea ice in the Arctic, situated at a latitude of 82.4°N, standing on an ice floe with a "Youth Strike for Climate" message. This protest marked the northernmost climate-change demonstration to date. [10] That same month, she joined the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds' (RSPB) advisory committee, becoming its youngest member. [11]
In 2018, Craig won the National Biodiversity Network's Gilbert White Youth Award for recording terrestrial and freshwater wildlife. [12]
In February 2020, Craig received an honorary doctorate in science (DSc hc) from the University of Bristol. [13]
In June 2023, Craig was awarded The Muslim News's Malcolm X Young Person’s Award for Excellence. [14] That year, she was also selected as a National Geographic Society Young Explorer. [15]
Craig's first book, We Have a Dream, was nominated for Discover Book of the Year at the British Book Awards 2022. [16] In March 2023, she was longlisted for the 2023 Jhalak Prize for her memoir, Birdgirl, [17] which was also longlisted for the 2023 James Cropper Wainwright Prize. [18] The book was a winner of the 2023 Somerset Maugham Award. Her third book, Flight, won the 2024 Edward Stanford Children’s Travel Book of the Year. [19]
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