A Face of Stewardship
What makes our community special? It’s the people. People whose passion for their roles at work, in their volunteer lives, and in their homes stands out. They make up the unique color and character of life in Morgantown. Here we share a few stories behind the faces of people who make our community a better place.
The first word that Katie Fallon spoke was “bird.”
So it’s fitting that this Pennsylvania native now finds herself writing books about birds and leading an organization committed to rehabbing some of the biggest birds around. Her story is, however, much more vibrant than one single invisible string.
She and her veterinarian husband, Jesse Fallon, first came to Morgantown as grad students. “We fell head over heels for this place,” she says. After her brief stint teaching English at Virginia Tech while he finished vet school, they knew they wanted to come back and put down roots.
Since their return, she’s been busy.
Her two nonfiction books—Cerulean Blues and Vulture—illuminate the plights of the region’s bird populations and paint a vivid picture of the ecosystems around them.
In 2012, along with her husband and a group of like-minded friends, she put her passion for birds into action, co-founding the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia. It was a merging of expertise in veterinary medicine and education as well as the creation of a place where injured birds could find healing and the public could gain a deeper appreciation for their feathered neighbors. Nestled at Cheat Lake Animal Hospital and Ridge Way Farm, the ACCA has become a vital resource for bird conservation, and its non-releasable birds of prey serve as ambassadors, captivating audiences through educational programming.
Fallon’s influence extends far beyond the pages of her books and the efforts of the ACCA. When she’s not at the Cheat Lake Farmers Market championing local agriculture and fostering a vibrant sense of community as its manager, you’ll find her devoting time to her family, a constant presence in the lives of her three daughters. For a brief stint, she was also on the political stage as a candidate for the House of Delegates in 2022. The outcome of that endeavor wasn’t what she hoped for, but it demonstrated her dedication to serving her community in any way she can and her willingness to step outside of her comfort zone when required.
READ ABOUT OTHER FACES OF MORGANTOWN
READ MORE STORIES FROM THE MORGANTOWN FALL 2024 ISSUE
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