Esmeralda Villon

Esmeralda is a 23-year-old ecologist from Paterson, New Jersey, with a particular passion for the environment, animal rights, and above all—birds! She moved to Finland at age 13 to dive into her Finnish roots and take advantage of their world-renowned education system. She earned her bachelor’s in environmental and marine biology from Åbo Akademi University in 2019 and then completed her master’s in ecology and evolutionary biology in 2024. She’s traveled extensively, studied abroad in South America, and focused her research on bird-window collisions, becoming a leading expert in the Nordic region. She's extremely passionate about the intersection between humans and the environment and has built a rewarding career in conservation. In her free time, Esmeralda works actively with urban gardens and animal rights groups, and stays active through yoga, bouldering, hiking, and of course, birding!