Industry News

ZEISS announces partnership with Birdability, a newly created non-profit organization based in the U.S., but with global reach. Birdability has been formed to increase inclusion and access in the birding community and the outdoors. Birdability’s vision is that birding is truly for everybody and their mission is to share the joys of birding with people who have disabilities, and to ensure birding is accessible for everyone. Besides financial support, ZEISS also provides different optics. “ZEISS sees itself as a true community partner and believes in supporting causes championing the inclusiveness Birdability seeks to develop awareness for,” stated Rich Moncrief, Manager, New Business Development, Nature and Observation.

Sharing the Joy of Birding with People with Low Vision

ZEISS optics will support the virtual programming and bring birds into the homes of many attendees who may have access challenges that prevent them from getting out and seeing these birds in-person. Freya McGregor, Birdability Coordinator and Occupational Therapist expressed, “They will also enable sharing the joys of birding with even more people during in-person events, closer and in clearer focus — particularly important for people with low vision”. Moncrief concludes, “We are sure this will allow more people with disabilities and other health concerns to fall in love with birds and the wonders of nature, and in turn, do what they can to protect our planet”.

The ZEISS sponsorship will also support Birdability in creating resources encouraging birders to contribute birding locations to the Birdability Map, a crowd-sourced global map of accessible birding locations, outlining details of the accessibility features of these locations, which allows birders with accessibility challenges to find out often vital access information about birding locations in advance.

About Birdability

Through education, outreach, and advocacy, Birdability works to ensure the birding community and the outdoors are welcoming, inclusive, safe, and accessible for everybody. They focus on people with mobility challenges, blindness or low vision, chronic illness, intellectual or developmental disabilities, mental illness, and those who are neurodivergent, deaf or hard of hearing or who have other health concerns. In addition to current birders, Birdability strives to introduce birding to people with disabilities and other health concerns who are not yet birders, so they too can experience the joys of birding.

For more information on how to support this cause, please visit Birdability.org

About ZEISS

ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. In the previous fiscal year, the ZEISS Group generated annual revenue totaling 6.3 billion euros in its four segments Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology, Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology and Consumer Markets (status: 30 September 2020).

For its customers, ZEISS develops, produces and distributes highly innovative solutions for industrial metrology and quality assurance, microscopy solutions for the life sciences and materials research, and medical technology solutions for diagnostics and treatment in ophthalmology and microsurgery. The name ZEISS is also synonymous with the world’s leading lithography optics, which are used by the chip industry to manufacture semiconductor components. There is global demand for trendsetting ZEISS brand products such as eyeglass lenses, camera lenses and binoculars.

With a portfolio aligned with future growth areas like digitalization, healthcare and Smart Production and a strong brand, ZEISS is shaping the future of technology and constantly advancing the world of optics and related fields with its solutions. The company’s significant, sustainable investments in research and development lay the foundation for the success and continued expansion of ZEISS’ technology and market leadership. ZEISS invests 12 percent of its revenue in research and development – this high level of expenditure has a long tradition at ZEISS and is also an investment in the future.

With over 34,000 employees, ZEISS is active globally in almost 50 countries with around 30 production sites, 60 sales and service companies and 27 research and development facilities. Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. The Carl Zeiss Foundation, one of the largest foundations in Germany committed to the promotion of science, is the sole owner of the holding company, Carl Zeiss AG (status: 31 March 2021).

Further information at www.zeiss.com

Original link:https://www.opticaljournal.com/zeiss-engages-sponsorship-with-birdability/