 |
Nikon and The Brevard Nature Alliance present the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival Brevard Community College, Titusville Campus 1311 North U.S. Highway 1, Titusville January 23 - 28, 2008 -- Titusville, Florida A celebration of birds and wildlife. |
| John Acorn | Robert Amoruso | Ray & Pat Ashton | Jay S. Barnhart, Jr. M.D. | Dr. Gian Basili | Carlos Bethancourt | Wes Biggs | Jeff Bouton | Dave Breininger | Dr. Jorge Cruz | Jim Danzenbaker | Casey Dorsch | Kevin Doxstater | Susan Epps | Sam Fried | Murray Gardler | Dave Goodwin | Jeffrey A. Gordon | Milton Heiberg | Stephen Ingraham | Alvaro (Al) Jaramillo | Kevin Karlson | Adam Kent | Mark Kiser | Paul Lehman | Sarah Linney | Cynthia and George Marks | Lorne K. Malo | Larry Manfredi | Peter G. Merritt | John Moran | Xavier Munoz | Michael O'Brien | Kim Risen | Cary Salter | Paul A. Schmalzer | Mark D. Sees | Luis Segura | Debra Shearwater | Garry Shorter | David Simpson | Jim Stahl | John Stiner | Eric Stolen | Doug Stuckey | Simon Thompson | Dr. Rachel K. Wentz | Lynda White | Dorn Whitmore | Joanne Williams | Andy Wraithmell | Ramiro Yabar | Virgilio Yabar | Louise Zemaitis | Maria Zondervan |
John Acorn
John Acorn was born in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1958, and has been fascinated with animals his entire life. He still lives in Edmonton, with his wife, Dena, and their two young boys Jesse and Benjamin.John is perhaps best known as the writer and host of the television series Acorn, The Nature Nut, a family-oriented, how-to-be-a-naturalist show. He also hosted Twits and Pishers, a travel show for bird watchers, and is the video host for the galleries of the Royal Tyrell Museum, where he is also a research associate. These days, John lectures at the University of Alberta, and travels widely as a public speaker. He finds time for the study and photography of insects as well, and is an Associate of the E. H. Strickland Entomology Museum at the University of Alberta. John has written 16 books, including many well-received field guides.
John is the recipient of the University of Alberta's Distinguished Alumni Award, the Alberta Science and Technology Leadership Awards Foundation Prize for Excellence in Science and Technology Journalism, two "Rosies" (as Best Host, in the Alberta Motion Picture Industry Awards), and two nominations for Canada's national television award, the Gemini. Both the Entomological Society of Alberta and the Canadian Society of Zoologists have formally recognized his contributions to public education.
Robert Amoruso
Pursuing an appreciation of the outdoors, Robert Amoruso has been involved in landscape and nature photography for over 30 years translating his vision of the outdoors into artistic images. Though his primary works have been landscape and nature images, he has always been interested in wildlife photography and beginning in 2003 seriously pursed acquiring the equipment and expertise required to capture wildlife. Having moved to bird-rich Florida in 1999 and in conjunction with a life-long appreciation of our avian friends, Robert decided to concentrate on acquiring the skill set required to design artistically pleasing avian images. He first attended workshops at the 2003 Titusville Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival given by Milton Heiberg, Joanne Williams and renowned bird photographer Arthur Morris. Following up these initial introductions to bird photography, Robert continued with workshops by Milton Heiberg and Charles Glatzer. However, it was Arthur Morris' passion and skill in avian photography that captured his attention and subsequently led to Robert studying with Artie on group tours and in semi-private settings. In December 2005, Robert became one of Artie's Birds as Art Instructional Photo Tour co-leaders. In that capacity, he helps Artie run the workshops, instruct the participants in designing images, exposure theory and how to correctly handle their equipment to capture pleasing avian images. Robert now offers private and semi-private one-on-one and group instruction in avian and nature photography. Starting in 2006, Robert has been conducting workshops at the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival held in January each year in Titusville, FL as well as having a booth displaying his work for sale. Robert has been chosen winner of the Birds category in the 2006 Nature's Best Photography International Photo Awards Competition. Besides appearing in the fall edition of Nature's Best Photography magazine, his winning image will also appear on the magazine's "winner's poster" and will be featured in an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History starting in November of 2006. Robert also won first place in the 2006 Orange Audubon's18th Annual Chertok Nature Photography Contest and first place in the 2004 Titusville Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival Photography Contest.Ray & Pat Ashton
Ray Ashton is a herpetologist and an educator who semi-retired 10 years ago to have time to study gopher tortoises and other wildlife of the uplands and to be involved in various conservation programs dealing with reptiles and amphibians and sustainable use. He is past chairman of the Gopher Tortoise Council, the Florida Committee on Rare and Endangered Plants and Animals (FCREPA), and managed the book series The Rare Endangered Biota of Florida. He and his wife Patricia wrote the three-volume Handbook of Reptiles and Amphibians of Florida (Windward Press).Ray worked in three major museums for 19 years, including the Florida State Museum of Natural History. There he was the Director or worked in the Education Department and worked with reptile and amphibian research. It was there that he met his life partner and co-researcher, Pat Ashton. Pat was a graduate student in the Botany department and was hired to help Ray identify plants in gopher tortoise scat. She also helped him write the scripts and plan the museum exhibits. Today the two of them manage the Ashton Biodiversity Research & Preservation Institute and the 200 acre Preserve where there are many on going research projects. Ray and Pat are well known international experts in sustainable tourism and protected area development. Ray has developed and led birding expeditions to 17 countries and has worked on policy development and creating protected areas in approximately 50 other countries. Meanwhile Pat has developed educational expeditions to China, Australia, Central America and Peru. Ray and Pat wrote a book on Central American Ecotourism and both have published numerous articles, book chapters, and books on wildlife, wildlife conservation, and sustainable tourism practices.
Ray and Pat established the Ashton Biodiversity Research & Preservation Institute on the Brooksville Ridge west of Gainesville. The Institute is dedicated to conducting research on gopher tortoises and other upland protected species. The emphasis of the work has been to determine best management and monitoring of tortoises, especially those being relocated off site. They were encouraged to take a very active role in getting the FWC Incidental Take Rule changed and to provide training programs for agency personnel, consultants and others on proper mitigation methods. The Gopher Tortoise Conservation Initiative (GTCI) was created for this purpose. Students come from around the world to work and learn at the Institute. The Ashtons are frequently called in to represent the gopher tortoise when planned mitigation may not be what is best for the tortoise.
Jay S. Barnhart, Jr. M.D.
Jay Barnhart is a retired Deputy Chief Medical Examiner for Miami-Dade County Florida. Enjoying his new free time, Jay is using his experience and expertise in fishing and boating to help preserve and restore our water resources, both in the St. Johns River and the integrally linked Indian River lagoon. An avid wild mushroom hobbyist, Jay uses his love of plants and mushrooms to lead groups on nature walks. While living in the Miami area, he served as a volunteer Walking Tour Guide at Fairchild Gardens. Here on the Space Coast, Jay leads participates in interpretive programs at Sebastian Inlet State Park and the Enchanted Forest Sanctuary. He is a member of the Florida Native Plant Society, the North American Mycological Association and the Friends of the Enchanted Forest Sanctuary, where he completed the Guide Training Certification Course in 2001. Jay also serves on the Advisory Committee for the Upper River Basin of the St. Johns American Heritage River Initiative, and on the Board of Directors of the Brevard Nature Alliance.
Dr. Gian Basili
Gian holds a B.S. in Biology from Colorado College, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His graduate research focused on understanding the population decline of the Dickcissel, a neotropical migratory songbird that that breeds on prairies in the Midwestern US and winters in northern South America. Before joining the St. Johns River Water Management District in 1999, Gian served as the director of ornithology for the Florida Audubon Society. Over the past five years, he has worked as a land acquisition planner and a technical program manager in the District's Department of Operations and Land Resources, and he serves currently as the senior project manager for the Lake Apopka restoration program.Carlos Bethancourt
Carlos Bethancourt was born in Panama City, Panama in 1978 and grew up in the little village of Huile, which borders the forest of the old Canal Zone. His fascination with the natural world comes from his childhood visits to his grandmother's home, deep in the neighboring forest. After finishing high school in Panama, he won a scholarship from the USAID and Georgetown University to study natural resources at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon. It was there that he began birding in an organized fashion, and where he received his first formal training in ornithology. Upon his return to Panama in October of 2000, he immediately started working at the Canopy Tower Ecolodge where he further refined his birding skills, and birded with some of the best known professional birding guides in the world.Wes Biggs
Wes started birding as a youngster in Rochester N.Y. His family moved to St. Petersburg in 1962 and the birding got much better. He has been involved in the conservation movement since junior high school and in every aspect of Florida ornithology since his early teens. As a lister he has seen more species of birds in Florida than anyone. On the scientific front, he has been involved with the two largest ornithological projects in Florida history, as a member of several Dry Tortugas banding expeditions in the 1960's and 1970's, and as the state coordinator of the Florida Breeding Bird Atlas project in the 1980's and 1990's. In the field of eco-tourism, he has headed up Florida Nature Tours since 1990, specializing in birding tours in Florida and the American Tropics. If it has feathers and lives in Florida, Wes can find it.Jeff Bouton
Jeff Bouton began his birding career over 22 years ago in upstate New York. Through a whirlwind series of seasonal field jobs, Jeff traveled the country studying raptors and banding birds at places like Braddock Bay near Rochester, NY, Hammonassett Beach State Park in CT, throughout Colorado into New Mexico, and Cape May, NJ among others. His travels landed him in Alaska where he lived for nearly seven years working as a seasonal field biologist and professional tour leader throughout the state. In 1998 Jeff moved to Port Charlotte, Florida where he still resides with his family.Jeff is a contributing author to the ABA Bird-finding Guides to both Florida and Alaska, and the new title from Houghton Mifflin "Good Birders Don't Wear White." He was a consultant on the two CD set "Bird Songs of Alaska," and has written over 20 articles for a variety of birding magazines over the past few years including his regular featured column in WildBird magazine entitled "Adventures with Austin." He also has a sponsored blog on the Bird Watcher's Digest website.
Jeff currently works as the Product Specialist to the birder/naturalist markets, for Leica Sport Optics, USA and presents birding and optics seminars, and guides field trips at bird festivals throughout the country and beyond.
Dave Breininger
Dave Breininger is a senior ecologist for Dynamac Corporation, the NASA Life Sciences support contract for Kennedy Space Center. His interests are focused on habitat management, habitat characteristics, and demography combining field data with remote sensing, GIS, population models and landscape trajectories. Dave is currently investigating demography of 200 color banded Florida scrub jay families in Brevard and Indian River counties.Dr. Jorge Cruz
Dr. Jorge Cruz, Sr. was born to Jorge and Dolores Cruz in Newark, New Jersey in 1961. After the family returned to Ecuador in 1963 he was educated to the 6th course in the American School of Quito. He received his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine in 1987 at the Central University in Quito, and completed additional post-graduate studies in small animal surgery at New York Flushing Medical Center in 1998.In 1987, Dr. Cruz created the Caniche Medical Center, a 24-hour emergency veterinary clinic specializing in small animal surgery and pet inoculations. He was the creator of the first pet insurance service in the country.
Dr. Cruz also received a Hotel Management license in 1999 from the Instur Hotel Management School in Quito. As the Founder of San Jorge Eco-lodge near Quito, Ecuador in 1990, Dr. Cruz established the historical, archeological, botanical and ornithological research programs at the eco-lodge's Botanical Reserves. He oversaw the development of resources to provide medical aid and educational support to residents of surrounding villages.
The owner of 4 private birding reserves in Ecuador known as The Magic Birding Circuit, Dr. Cruz has been a natural and cultural history guide since 1995. He has been a Birding guide since 2000, and is a contributing writer for the Aves&Conservacion Foundation. An accomplished artist as well, Jorge added bird paintings to his repertoire 3 years ago. Jorge is fluent in English, Spanish and French and has traveled extensively in Europe, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and the USA.
Jim Danzenbaker
An optics user for 37 years, Jim is currently the Naturalist Manager for Brunton Optics in Riverton Wyoming. He has been leading birding tours for 15 years, guiding in eight countries, including Panama and Ecuador. Jim has been a Naturalist Lecturer on Antarctic eco-cruises and led pelagic birding trips for Shearwater Journeys for many years. He was a member of a winning World Series of Birding team in 1985. Jim has presented Optics workshops at many different birding venues across the US.Casey Dorsch
Casey Dorsch is a Fish & Wildlife Biological Technician with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission and has worked at Tosohatchee WMA (previously Tosohatchee State Reserve) for over five years. Casey is an avid outdoors woman with interests in all aspects of nature. She has much experience with land management issues such as prescribed fire, invasive exotics, and hydrologic restoration.Kevin Doxstater
Kevin is a freelance photographer from Port Orange, FL. Originally from Southern California, his lifelong interest in photography matured into a serious passion while living in the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado. Following a move to Florida in the late 1980's, Kevin turned his camera to auto racing, an interest carried over from his youth in California, his work appearing in local and national publications. He was also a part-time staff photographer at Daytona International Speedway for several years.Kevin has always had a keen interest in technology and it was only natural for him to quickly realize the possibilities in digital imaging. Learning the photo editing program Adobe Photoshop® led to a career change in 1998 and, not long after, a chance meeting in 1999 with a client who was a nature photographer. Finding her work to be an inspiration, he began to photograph birds on weekends when he wasn't working at the race track. Over the next two years his passion for bird photography continued to grow and, by mid-2001, he discontinued his racing work except for select events at Daytona.
Kevin's catalog of images now includes nearly 200 species of birds, and, while birds make up about 75 percent of his portfolio, it also includes mammals, reptiles, insects, plants, landscapes, as well as sunrises & sunsets. Much of his work has been in the state of Florida, though recent travels have taken him to New Mexico, California, Arizona, Colorado, and Alaska.
Kevin enjoys presenting his work to various clubs and organizations and has created two musical programs of his photography built around the music of Ludwig van Beethoven: Beautiful Birds, Beautiful Music and Beautiful Nature, Beautiful Music. He has also developed a series of seminars, Image Editing for Digital Photographers, introductory courses about working with digital images using Adobe Photoshop® and Photoshop Elements®. He also designs and maintains his website (www.naturalvisonsphoto.com). In addition, Kevin leads local "in-the-field" nature photography workshops and, with a friend, has recently begun a new venture co-leading photography tours/workshops in locations around North America.
Susan Epps
Susan was born in Baton Rouge, LA where she attended Louisiana State University. She moved to Fort Lauderdale in 1987 where she enjoyed swimming and scuba diving. She became interested in conservation issues regarding protecting the coral reefs and participated in fish identification classes and fish counts for many years. In 1997 she became interested in birds, especially the wild parrots of south Florida. There was a large Amazonia roost across the street from her condo. Many species of parrots and parakeets could be found feeding within walking distance of her home.She is co-author of "Distribution, Population, Status, and Documentation of Exotic Parrots in Broward County, Florida" published in Florida Field Naturalist and the author of "Parrots of South Florida" published by Pineapple Press. For seven years she hosted people from all over the US, Canada, and Europe who wanted to see the parrots and parakeets.
She now lives on the Mississippi Coast and is working on "Parrots of the United States." This involves travel to many states to photograph psittacids and document what they are eating.
Michael Freiberg
Mike Freiberg grew up in Philadelphia, PA, where his family introduced him to the world of bird-watching. Over time the hobby grew into a career. He attended Iowa State University where he earned his B.S. in Animal Ecology. His college summers were spent as a biological technician, monitoring breeding birds for Point Reyes Bird Observatory in Eastern Oregon, and also four seasons in Black Hills, SD, working for the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory. As his passion for birding grew he decided to travel Latin America; he has spent time in Mexico and Venezuela and a great deal of time in Brazil. One of his most memorable birding experiences was the six months spent in Northeast Brazil performing research on a new species of bird called the Araripe Manakin. Mike works as the Nikon Sport Optics Birding Market Specialist.Sam Fried
A reformed trial lawyer, Sam is a Past President of Hartford Audubon Society. Hundreds of Sam's photographs and over 35 feature articles have been published in field guides, books and magazines worldwide, including National Audubon, Birder's World, Bird Watcher's Digest, Birding and Living Bird Quarterly magazines. Sam wrote several chapters of the Insight Guides book on birding in North America, published by The Discovery Channel. A co-founder of Flights of Fancy Adventures, Inc., a birding, photography, natural history and golf travel company offering small group, low cost, high quality trips to North, Central and South American destinations, Sam has photographed 708 species of birds in North America.Murray Gardler
I was born in Wellesley, MA where my birding interests started in Junior High School as the result of a science teacher who "lit my fire". While living in MA I become a mentor to such names as Wayne Petersen (author and contributor to Sibley's Guide to Behavior, Audubon Master Guide to Birding and a world tour guide) and many others that became college and high school teachers. I led Audubon trips for the MA Audubon Society while a student at Boston College, from where I graduated.My first Christmas count was with Ludlow Griscom. This had me scared to death as at the time he was considered the dean of field ornithologists using optics rather than guns to identify birds, but all went well. Over the years I have birded most of the USA including AK. Been active with various Audubon Society groups and Bird Clubs in MA, RI, NH, TN, TX and FL. I was treasurer for the Dallas County Audubon Society, Dallas, TX with over $100,000 under my jurisdiction prior to my retirement in FL in January 1999.
Since my retirement in 1999 I have done some tour guiding in FL, TX, AZ and AK. I now do PowerPoint Presentations on an Introduction to Shorebirds to various Audubon Groups located on the west coast of Florida where I try to simplify the how to identify the shorebirds of Florida.
Dave Goodwin
Dave began his birding career in St. Petersburg in the late 1960's and has extensive experience throughout the state of Florida and elsewhere in the U.S. As a middle school teacher, Dave conducts summer nature camps in the Tampa Bay area. As past president of The Florida Ornithological Society and as a regional coordinator for the Florida Breeding Bird Atlas project he has been involved in various tours for Florida Nature Tours for many years in South Florida and the Dry Tortugas. Dave is in the elite group of birders who have seen over 400 species of birds in Florida. A day in the field with Dave will open your eyes.Jeffrey A. Gordon
Jeff is a writer and naturalist who lives in Lewes, Delaware. He serves as Field Editor for Bird Watcher's Digest, and is a frequent speaker at various birding and nature festivals around the U.S. A lifelong nature enthusiast, Jeff worked as an interpretive naturalist at national parks including Yosemite and Acadia, and at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. He spent 12 years leading birding tours worldwide for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours. He authored 11 of the chapters in the 2005 book Identify Yourself: The 50 Most Common Birding Identification Challenges, and contributed an essay to the 2007 collection, Good Birders Don't Wear White: 50 Tips from North America's Top Birders. For more information on Jeff's activities, visit www.jeffreyagordon.comMilton Heiberg
Milton Heiberg has written seven books and numerous articles on photography. The most recent is The Essentials of Nature Photography, Tern Book Company - a complete handbook of nature photography. He is a frequent presenter and lecturer on wildlife photography, special effects, and general photography. Tens of thousands of his images have been published worldwideHis education at Cornell Graduate School of Biological Sciences prepared him for his first love, wildlife photography. Throughout his career as a studio and outdoor photographer he has taught nature photography. He founded the New York City Audubon Society's photo committee, its annual photo contest, and the Nature Photography course, which he taught until he moved to Florida in 1998. He currently works out of his studio in Orlando, and teaches photography and Photoshop courses at the Crealdé School of Art, in Winter Park, Florida. Most recently he was appointed as Central Florida's Photo Instructor at the Digital Photo Academy - a national school of photography sponsored by Panasonic/Lumix. He currently serves on the Board of Directors at the Orange Audubon Society and is involved with running their Chertok Photo Contest.
Milton's life is similar to the history of photography. At age eight he was given a Brownie Target camera and started making black and white prints in the basement of his home in Brooklyn, NY. He grew up with a camera in his hand. It was usually, but not limited to, 35mm equipment outdoors, and everything else up to an 8x10 view camera in his Manhattan studio where he spent a good part of his adult life. Now, as a complete convert to digital photography and Photoshop, he has covered most of the revolutionary changes in the world of photography. For more information visit www.miltonheiberg.com.
Stephen Ingraham
Stephen Ingraham is the Birding and Observation Product Specialist for Carl Zeiss Sport Optics. He is well known from his years as editor of the Tools of the Trade section in Birding Magazine, his frequent articles in Wildbird, Birder's World and British Birdwatch magazines, and his appearances at American Birding Association conventions and birding events around the country. Steve is the founder and editor of Better View Desired and betterviewdesired.com on the World Wide Web.Alvaro (Al) Jaramillo
Al is a staff guide for Field Guides, and has fun guiding tours throughout the Americas. He was born in Chile but began birding in Toronto, where he lived as a youth. He studied ecology and evolution in Toronto and Vancouver, earning a masters studying co-evolution in Argentine cowbirds. Research forays and backpacking trips introduced Alvaro to the riches of the Neotropics, where he has traveled extensively. He recently published Birds of Chile, an authoritative yet portable field guide to Chile's birds. His other book (New World Blackbirds: The Icterids) deals with the biology and identification of this fascinating group of birds. He has also contributed both popular and scientific articles in various magazines and journals, and wrote the icterid chapter to The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior. Most recently Al finished co-editing a translation of A Neotropical Companion, for Birder's Exchange. With no book projects on the go, his spare time is now happily occupied caring, along with his wife Katja, for his children, Pablo and Bianca, in the cozy coastal town of Half Moon Bay, California. Ecologically, it's very much like Chile but the people speak English! Al is a birder who is also keenly interested in all aspects of the natural world and in understanding the biology and behavior of birds.Kevin T. Karlson
Kevin T. Karlson has been a wildlife photographer for 26 years and active as a birder for 28 years. He has traveled from the wilds of the Alaskan Arctic to the rainforests of South America to photograph birds.As a noted wildlife photographer in North America, his work is widely published in numerous birding magazines and journals, as well as books, field guides, calendars and CD-ROM's. In 1999, Tidemark Press published Kevin's own calendar titled Birds of the Arctic Tundra, which was endorsed by the American Birding Association. He worked closely with Peter Thayer in creating the CD-Rom The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Guide to Birds of North America as head ornithologist, photo researcher and submitter of almost 800 photos. A comprehensive revision was released in April 2002, with many new photos and plumages not previously shown. Kevin also provided 170 photos for the North American Bird Reference Book CD-ROM, produced by Lanius Software in 1999.
Kevin is currently on the advisory board of Wild Bird Magazine as well as a staff contributor of the column Birder's ID. Additional contributions include writing feature articles. He is a former photo editor of North American Birds, an ornithological journal of ABA. Besides photography, Kevin authors various articles on birds, from advice on good locations to see and photograph them to insights on natural history and field identification. He recently completed an innovative book called The Shorebird Guide with co-authors Michael O'Brien and Richard Crossley, released by Houghton Mifflin Publishers in April 2006. This comprehensive field guide stresses a new and exciting concept of field identification based initially upon physical impressions rather than feather analysis. It contains 870 photos, many showing comparisons of similar species or different plumages of the same species in real life settings.
Mr. Karlson spent the summers of 1992-95 working for Troy Ecological Research Associates as a wildlife biologist in the Alaskan Arctic, participating in research and census studies of the birds that use this fragile habitat. His photo collection from this region is one of the best in the world.
In recent years, Kevin has joined the Birding Symposium and Festival circuit as a keynote speaker and workshop presenter. Recent venues include the San Diego Bird Festival, Eastern Shore of Virginia Bird Festival, Central Valley Bird Symposium in California, Rio Grande Bird Festival in Harlingen Texas, Galveston's Featherfest, Florida's Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, and the Copper River Shorebird Festival in Cordova Alaska.
Currently a resident of Cape May County NJ, Kevin is a recently retired 12-year member of the NJ Bird Records Committee and active in the Cape May birding community. He is the founder and president of Jaeger Tours, Inc., a small birding tour company with an emphasis on the enjoyment of a total birding and nature experience.
Adam Kent
Adam's interest in nature started when he was a small child. A love of sharing his passion about the natural world led him to travel and lead nature tours across the hemisphere from Alaska to southern South America. He has written a guide to the shorebirds of Baja California, co-authored a paper about birds of the Lake Titicaca region of Bolivia, and made recordings in southern Mexico that led to the description of a new species of bird, the Nava's Wren.While with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Adam developed "Bird Detective," a bird-identification activity guide for Florida that was later adopted by Seattle Audubon. Also with the FWC, Adam worked on the Great Florida Birding Trail and made bird lists for many of the state's Wildlife Management Areas. He is currently employed as the FWC's Scrub-Jay Conservation Coordinator. "Bird Detective" booklet: www.floridaconservation.org/educator/JrBirder/jr_booklet_sig.pdf Seattle Audubon's "For the Birds:" http://seattleaudubon.org/uploadedFiles/Education/Educator_Resources/ForTheBirdsBook.pdf
Mark Kiser
Mark has been the coordinator for the Great Florida Birding Trail with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission since August 2005. A late-blooming birder, he was introduced to birdwatching in 1989 while in the Chihuahuan desert. From 1997-2005 he was the Bat House Research Project coordinator for Bat Conservation International in Austin, Texas. He has also worked for The Nature Conservancy-North Carolina Chapter, National Audubon Society, Alabama Natural Heritage Program, and the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences. He holds a B.S. in Biology from Appalachian State University in North Carolina and an M.S. in Zoology from Auburn University, Alabama.Paul Lehman
Paul began birding at the age of 9 in New York. At 18 he moved to Santa Barbara, California, where he remained for 20 years before returning east in 1994 to live in Cape May, New Jersey.Given his interests in geography, bird distribution, and working on bird lists in every state and province, he has traveled extensively throughout virtually every nook and cranny of North America, perhaps more than any other birder. He has written many articles and papers on avian distribution and identification.
Formerly a lecturer in physical geography and environmental studies at the University of California in Santa Barbara, and past editor of Birding magazine for nine years, Paul continues to give talks on weather, bird distribution, migration, and vagrancy, topics that are of special interest to him. He is an associate editor for North American Birds and has been a principal consultant on several popular field guides, most recently as the chief consultant for the range maps in The Sibley Field Guides to Birds of Eastern and Western North America, Roger Tory Peterson's A Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern and Central North America, The National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Birds of North America, and the National Geographic Society's Field Guide to the Birds of North America. He is also chief editor of the ABA Lane Birdfinding Guide to North America's major metropolitan regions, and authored the chapter on birding Gambell, Alaska - where he has pioneered autumn birding ventures - for the ABA Alaska Birdfinding Guide. His lengthy Gambell visits in autumn (where he has discovered five new North American records since 1999) are one example of his interests in exploring some of the lesser-known and under-appreciated birding destinations in the continent.
Sarah Linney
Sarah Linney is the Field Coordinator for the Florida State University, Florida Natural Areas Inventory, Cape Canaveral Scrub-jay Project. The main purpose of the project is to monitor the demographics of the Florida Scrub Jay population on the Cape Canaveral AFS. Her primary responsibilities include year-round field research; organizing, coordinating, and overseeing all field activities; and updating and maintaining research databases. Sarah holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. Native of N. C. moved to Florida in 1992. Sarah is an active member of the Space Coast Audubon Society. The immediate Past President, she currently holds the Office of Secretary.Cynthia and George Marks
Cynthia and George have been working with bats in Florida since 1989. In 1994, they founded the Florida Bat Center (now the Florida Bat Conservancy), a nonprofit organization dedicated to bat conservation in Florida. They have presented hundreds of educational programs on bats, worked with state and local agencies on bat conservation projects, rescued and cared for injured and orphaned bats, helped home and business owners with bats in buildings, and studied bat distributions and behaviors throughout Florida.Cynthia and George are authors of "Bat of Florida." Published by University Press of Florida in 2006, it is the first book dedicated to Florida's amazing bat species.
Lorne Malo
Lorne K. Malo is a Senior Regulatory Scientist with the St. Johns River Water Management District. He also works part-time for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection conducting bird surveys on the Wekiva, St. Johns, and Tomoka Aquatic Preserves. Lorne is an avid birder who organizes bird surveys with local volunteers on St. Johns River Water Management District properties. He is also the compiler for the Audubon Society's Econlockhatchee Christmas Bird Count. Additionally, Lorne has worked with black bears, alligators, estuarine fish, small mammals, gopher tortoises, and assorted snakes.Larry Manfredi
Larry Manfredi was born and raised in Miami Florida. He became interested in birding at the age of six, when his mother gave him his very first book on birds, Marjorie Stuart's Birds Around Us. He has maintained a life list since the age of eight. Larry has birded most of the birding hotspots of North America (Attu Island Alaska, Southern Arizona, South Texas, California, Maine and the Dry Tortugas, to name a few), as well as many of the larger Caribbean islands, including the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Dominica, St. Lucia and the Dominican Republic. He has also birded Europe, traveling to France, Switzerland and Italy.Larry contributed to Bill Pranty's popular book A Birder's Guide to Florida and wrote the Miami Area section for one of the new Metropolitan Birdfinding Guides published by the American Birding Association. On a recent trip to the Dominican Republic with P. William Smith, a bird not previously seen on Hispaniola was discovered. Many birders might remember the Striped Headed Tanager that showed up in Larry's yard in 1992. More than 400 people came to see that amazing vagrant.
Having lived in South Florida for more than 30 years, Larry is familiar with locations of all the Florida specialties. Through many years in the field, he has gained knowledge of the local flora and fauna. He knows that many birdwatchers enjoy looking for alligators, crocodiles, manatees, butterflies and other interesting animals, in addition to finding birds.
Peter G. Merritt
Dr. Peter G. Merritt received a Ph.D. in 1985 from the University of Miami where he studied the singing behavior of the Northern Mockingbird. Since then, he has held the position of Regional Ecologist at Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council. He is past President of the Florida Ornithological Society, an organization that unites amateurs and professionals in the study of wild birds. He has also served as Editor of the Florida Field Naturalist, a scientific journal of ornithology and natural history published quarterly by the Florida Ornithological Society. He is the Executive Producer of the Video Guide to Florida Birds, a 2-hour program that teaches the identification of over 200 species of birds in Florida, and Everybody Loves Birds, a 30-minute program designed to teach lower school children the identification of 50 species of North American birds. Currently, Dr. Merritt is producing the Video Guide to Bahama Birds.John Moran
Following a 23-year career as a photographer, writer and editor for The Gainesville Sun, John Moran left the world of daily journalism in 2003 to concentrate full time on photographing the best of vanishing natural Florida. Moran has been named Photographer of the Year for the Southeastern U.S. by the National Press Photographers Association. His photographs have been published in numerous books and magazines including National Geographic, Life, Time, Newsweek, Smithsonian, The New York Times Magazine and on the cover of the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Florida.John was the State of Florida's official nature photographer in 2006, creating a calendar on state lands for the Governor's office and the Department of Environmental Protection. Other book projects are in the works, including a Suwannee River rafting adventure from the Okefenokee Swamp to the Gulf of Mexico, and a statewide photo book to be titled John Moran's Florida: One State, Many Worlds. On photographing the nature of Florida, Moran says, "Truly a universal language, photography can help us better understand and appreciate the many gifts of nature bestowed upon this great state we call home."
Xavier Munoz
Xavier Munoz is part owner of the successful company Neblina Forest Birding Tours in Puembo, Ecuador. Neblina Forest started as a lodge in the cloud forest of Mindo in 1991. Three years later, Neblina Forest began taking reservations, training guides and leading tours throughout Ecuador, establishing themselves as the first birding company based in South America. They promoted Ecuador's outstanding avifauna and its wilderness through a variety of tours, boldly setting an example for conservation by visiting the communities and forests where local citizens profit from eco-tourism. After six years of guiding nature and birding trips throughout Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, they expanded their range of operations by opening an office in Santa Cruz, Bolivia and have now added bird watching and cultural tours to Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela and Brazil.Michael O'Brien
Michael O'Brien is a freelance naturalist, environmental consultant, artist and author living in West Cape May, New Jersey. He leads tours for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours and conducts workshops and a fall songbird migration count for Cape May Bird Observatory. He is co-author of The Shorebird Guide, Flight Calls of Migratory Birds, and America's 100 Most Wanted Birds. Michael has served on the Maryland/DC and New Jersey Records Committees, as an editorial consultant for Birding, and as a regional editor for North American Birds. His illustrations have been widely published including in National Geographic's Field Guide to the Birds of North America.Kim Risen
Kim started birding along the Mississippi River flyway more than 35 years ago at the age of ten. Experiences with his camera and binoculars along the 'Big River' and in the woodlands and prairies of the Midwest cemented birds, photography and natural history as major focuses of his life.Kim began leading birding trips around the Midwest while still in high school. As his experiences grew, so did his tour-leading schedule. As a result, for the last 24 years Kim has led birding tours throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central and South America. For the past 17 years, he has specialized in the Latin American countries, where he has studied bird vocalizations, status and distribution and field identification. In 2004, Kim broke the record for most species recorded in one year for Mexico by 60 when he ended with a 'Big Year' total of 876 species. Mexico remains his most visited international destination (having led more than 70 trips throughout the country) and a frequent subject of his photography.
His tour leading travels have taken him to five continents, all the states of Mexico and into more bogs than most people have ever seen. He counts the woodlands and plains of Minnesota, North Dakota and Manitoba, the awesome diversity of Mexico, Alaska's stark beauty (plus the ever-present vagrant fever!) and the unrivaled Andes Mountains among his favorite locations.
He finds great pleasure in seeing and hearing birds through the eyes and ears of others. Being a tour leader allows him the ultimate birding high--seeing old, familiar birds for the first time over and over again. He and his wife, Cindy, are youth mentors in Minnesota. Working with beginners and children, introducing them to birds and the natural world, is one of the most rewarding experiences of his life.
He is the founder and publisher of NatureScape News, a tabloid news magazine emphasizing the FUN of birding, butterflying and the wonders of nature. Published 16 times per year, NatureScape News is the perfect outlet for Kim and Cindy, both longtime freelance photographers and writers. While their photography has appeared in newspapers, books and magazines across the country, sharing the wonders of the Midwest with the readers of NatureScape News remains their passion. You can check out NatureScape News on their website at: www.naturescapenews.com.
Cary Salter
Cary and his wife Betty, central Brevard residents since the early 1950s, have been birding together nearly 20 years, and volunteering at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge nearly 10 years serving more than 5000 combined hours. They often lead beginning birding tours for the refuge during peak season, and together give beginning birding presentations, Optics Programs, manatee presentations, and contribute efforts to the Florida Butterfly Monitoring Network, both on the refuge and at Brevard Zoo. They are always up for learning something new about the environment, and believe that, "without education there is no appreciation; and, without appreciation there is no conservation."Dr. Paul Schmalzer
Paul A. Schmalzer is a plant ecologist with the Dynamac Corporation at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, where he has worked since 1982. His current research interests include effects of fire on vegetation and soils, restoration of scrub ecosystems, and distribution, structure, composition, and dynamics of barrier island plant communities. He serves on the Environmentally Endangered Lands Selection and Management Committee for Brevard County, Florida.Mark Sees
A native Floridian, Mark has worked for Post, Buckley, Schuh and Jernigan as an Environmental Scientist, the St. John's River Water Management District as a Land Management Specialist and currently works for the City of Orlando as a Wetlands Analyst. He now manages the Orlando Wetlands Park for the City of Orlando.Luis Segura
Luis is one of the founders of Trogon Tours. Of Spanish and Scottish ancestors, Luis' home land is Patagonia, where he spent most of his life. His Scottish grandmother was one of the pioneers of the colonization of the Province of Santa Cruz, in the southernmost part of Patagonia. Luis started to work as a naturalist guide in 1982. Based in Buenos Aires at that time, he joined the Argentine Ornithological Society (AOP) and the Argentine Wildlife Foundation (FVSA), taking several courses on birds, bird watching, marine mammals, flora and geology. He soon began guiding some groups of Argentine birders and naturalists in a variety of National Parks and Nature Reserves within the country. At age 20 Luis led his first group of foreign birders throughout Argentina and has ever since been working as a tour leader for these kinds of groups in Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. In 1985, Luis was hired by a tour company in Buenos Aires to develop and manage their educational tours department, and this one became the first tour company ever to run scheduled tours to Costanera Sur, the famous wildlife reserve located in the heart of Buenos Aires City... and this happened even before it became a reserve!.In 1987, Luis decided to move back to his home town; Puerto Madryn. Based here he continued working as an independent tour leader and locally as tour guide specialized in birding and nature tours. He also worked as an associate in a local nature tours company at the operations department until in 1997 he finally decided to start Seebirds; a birding tours company focused on Patagonia. In 2000, together with Miguel Castelino he founded Birding Argentina/Trogon Tours, combining his own field and office experience with that of Miguel Castelino, and so giving birth to this highly specialized Destinations Management Company, which is currently successfully running birding, nature and cultural tours in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Antarctica.
Luis has also been involved in many wildlife conservation projects, mainly on Shorebirds and Seabirds. He has been working as a volunteer with the Magellanic Penguin Project in Punta Tombo for four seasons and has been in charge of a rescue station for penguins affected by off-shore oil spilling in Puerto Madryn in 1991. That same year, Luis helped founding the Austral Ornithological Society, of which he became the first president. Ever since, he has been organizing and dictating bird watching courses in Patagonia, encouraging other tour guides and general public to start birding, and so helping to create in the local community a bird sensitive conscience. Luis lives in Puerto Madryn with his wife Nancy.
Debra Shearwater
Debra is founder of Shearwater Journeys, a name synonymous with seabirding trips from Monterey, California. Over 50,000 birders from all over the world have joined her on boat trips since 1976. A full-time marine naturalist-birder, she has logged more than 1800 days at sea, visiting countless places from the Bering Sea to Antarctica. Enthusiastic about all marine life, Debi has worked as a research assistant on programs focusing on blue whales, several species of dolphins, and leatherback sea turtles. For the past several years, she has been leading expedition trips to remote areas of the world, including Antarctica, Iceland, Spitsbergen, New Zealand's Sub-Antarctic Islands, and the Russian Far East.Featured in numerous books and television programs, Debi has co-produced her own DVD, Through the Seasons: An Introduction to the Seabirds and Marine Mammals of Monterey Bay. Debra is a past member of the Board of Directors of the American Birding Association.
Garry Shorter
I am a full time wedding and event photographer in Orlando, FL. I have been a professional photographer since 1987. I was a part time photographer while in the US Air Force. Since exiting the service in 1992 I have been a full time photographer shooting wedding, conventions, sports, nature and wildlife. The thing that I love most about this business is no matter how much you know you can always learn more. Being a wedding photographer I deal with new people and places every weekend; and even after 15 years I learn something new every time I pick up a camera.As do many others, I have a real passion for wildlife and nature photography, and I spend as much time as possible in the field. I love the challenge of capturing wildlife and nature images, as well as observing the individual personalities every animal has.
Getting the photos that other photographers don't is not always about being a better photographer; it is about putting in the time and effort to get the shot you want. Animals will not pose for you so you need to be patient and wait for that perfect shot. My strongest belief is to always put nature first when I am shooting, just because you can get closer does not mean you should. Wildlife and nature photography gives me a lot of satisfaction and enjoyment, and I love to share my images, experiences and knowledge with others. The best way to preserve wildlife is to get others to enjoy and appreciate it, and photographing it and showing others my images is a great way to do that.
David Simpson
David Simpson is a life long resident of central Florida, where he has been birding for over 25 years. He has years of experience leading tours, both through his job as a ranger at the St. Sebastian Buffer Preserve, as well as at festivals including the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival and the Florida Birding festival.In addition to birds, David is familiar with all aspects of Florida wildlife and has an extensive knowledge of native plants, snakes, frogs, and many other critters you encounter in Florida. David is the current holder of many American Birding Association (ABA) records, including Big Year (both first and second place for Florida) and Big Day (current holder of 10 monthly records in Florida). David is well known for documenting and sharing his big day adventures.
Jim Stahl
Jim Stahl is a retired biologist from Ohio now residing in Titusville with his wife, Kay. He was the resource manager for the Metro Parks of Franklin County (Columbus) Ohio, a natural areas system of over 20,000 acres, as well as an Adjunct Professor of Life Science at Otterbein College. He now is an active volunteer for Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Cape Canaveral National Seashore, and Brevard County Natural Resources doing biotic surveys and public programs. He has spent over 40 years traveling throughout the United States and Canada looking for and photographing wildflowers.John Stiner
John Stiner is in Resources Management at Canaveral National Seashore. His responsibilities include protecting and interpreting the many archeological sites contained within the Seashore. Although he obtained a Masters Degree in Biology from Western Michigan University, he fosters a great love for history, which he cultivated as a child when he would ride his bike 15 miles to the Gettysburg Battlefield and crawl over every nook and cranny of Devil's Den. John loves to talk about the lives of Native Americans that once lived here and hardy settlers who braved the wilds of Florida before the creation of air conditioning and mosquito control.Eric Stolen
Eric has been working as a wildlife biologist in central Florida since 1987 and for the past 11 years at the Kennedy Space Center. Besides wading birds, Eric has worked with Black and Turkey Vultures, shorebirds, Florida Scrub Jay and Crested Caracara, as well as other critters including sea turtles, southeastern beach mouse, gopher tortoise, and bottlenose dolphin. Eric earned both his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in biological sciences at the University of Central Florida, where he studied Black Vulture foraging and roosting behavior. Eric earned his Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation from the University of Florida where he studied wading bird foraging ecology on the Kennedy Space Center - Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Eric's current research interests focus on foraging behavior and habitat selection in birds and marine mammals.Doug Stuckey
Doug Stuckey is a veteran birder and long time member of the Space Coast Audubon Society and has lived in Titusville for more than 37 years. He has spent 34 of those years birding in Brevard County, participating in Christmas Bird Counts for more than 28years. Doug was the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge CBC Compiler for 11 years and has led field trips for over 19 years. He has birded most of the United States (44 states) and has a North American Life List of over 550 species.Simon Thompson
Simon Thompson owns and operates his own bird watching and natural history tour company, Ventures, Inc., based in Asheville, NC and leads small groups of naturalists and birders both within North America and to many locations throughout the world. Destinations include the Peruvian Amazon, Belize, Galapagos, Greece, France, England and Australia. Ventures also runs daytrips throughout North and South Carolina and offers weekends and longer trips to many of the top birding sites throughout the US.Back in western North Carolina, he is also the ornithologist at Chimney Rock Park, where he leads bird walks and has put together the park bird list and is active with both the Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society and the newly-formed Henderson County Bird Club.
Simon was born in Malta and educated at Writtle Agricultural College in Chelmsford, England, where he received his degree in commercial horticulture in 1984. Prior to taking his degree, he lived in Ghana, Kenya and Lebanon, where his interest in birds began. In addition to traveling extensively in the US, he spent six months in China studying the crane and bird of prey migration as a member of the British "China Crane Watch" expedition.
Since moving permanently to the US in 1987, Simon has been the ornithologist and nature director at the Foothills Equestrian Nature Center (FENCE) in Tryon, NC, a position he held for 7 years until he started Ventures.
He has been active in various conservation activities, such as the recycling effort in Polk County, NC. He is a member of the American Birding Association and the Carolina Bird Club, and plans many bird watching talks and programs throughout western NC. He has also done a regular weekly commentary on birds on WNCW, the local Public Radio station. Currently he writes birding columns for the Hendersonville Times-News in North Carolina. Simon lives with his partner of 7 seven years, Chris, in the beautiful forested hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Dr. Rachel K. Wentz
Regional Director, Florida Public Archaeology Network, East/Central RegionFollowing a thirteen-year career as a firefighter/paramedic, I retired from Orlando Fire Department to pursue degrees in physical anthropology. I graduated from Florida State University with a PhD in Anthropology in April 2006. I specialize in bioarchaeology - the analysis of human skeletal remains to determine levels of health and pathology in archaeological populations. My research has focused primarily on the Windover (8BR246) skeletal population; a large, well-preserved population excavated in the mid-1980s from a pond in Titusville. I have also analyzed remains from Little Salt Spring and Calico Hill, both prehistoric sites in Florida. I have done skeletal work in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, England, and Ukraine. My experience also includes forensics and stable isotope analyses. I am now working for the newly established East/Central Region of the Florida Public Archaeology Network, hosted by Brevard Community College. The network is based out of the University of West Florida and was established to raise awareness of Florida's numerous archaeological sites and to educate the public in recognizing and preserving these valuable resources.
Lynda White
When my twin girls, my babies, left for college and our nest was empty, I looked for something I could do to make a difference and also have fun! I began volunteering at The Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in 1996, working in the education department as a docent, making use of my degree in Education from James Madison University. In 1998, I became one of two EagleWatch Coordinators, and a year later I began running the program on my own. I am responsible for recruiting, training and supervising 200+ EagleWatch volunteers statewide. I also help in the clinic when needed, and I still assist with education programs. I travel all over the state, educating the public about bald eagles and their importance in our environment. When I'm not escorting an eagle around and about, I enjoy spending as much time as I can with my husband, at the beach, anywhere outdoors, and spoiling our three grandkids.Dorn Whitmore
Dorn Whitmore, Supervisory Ranger, has worked at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge for more than 23 years. Over the span of his career he has lectured on a variety of natural history topics and led countless birding tours. For the most of the 1990's, Dorn was charged with the acquisition and development of the new sea turtle refuge - Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge. Dorn also oversaw the effort to expand and protect the nation's first National Wildlife Refuge at Pelican Island.Joanne Williams
Joanne Williams is a widely traveled freelance photographer specializing in wildlife and nature. She has photographed in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, the Netherlands, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Barbados, the Caribbean Islands, Dry Tortugas, The Pribilofs, Alaska, Nova Scotia, San Juan Is. and many areas of the United States especially extensive work in the Everglades and most of Florida. All forms of wildlife and nature are subjects of Joanne's work--the avian community being a favorite. Her work may be seen in many publications such as the Museum of Natural History magazine, Paddler's Guide to The Sunshine State, Birder's World magazine, Living Planet, six covers for Florida Audubon's magazine The Naturalist, New York Times, Bird Watcher's Digest, and The World and I, to name a few.Central Florida Visitor's Center and Convention Bureau featured her images on the cover and within their promotional brochure entitled Celebrate Nature and has used her work for their national advertising campaign, as have the Kissimmee/St. Cloud Visitors & Convention Bureau for 2002. Joanne is an active member of NANPA (North American Nature Photographer's Assoc.), FOWA (Florida Outdoor Writer's Assoc.), and a contributing photographer to VIREO (Visual Resources for Ornithology) at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. National Audubon has linked their website to Joanne's website gallery, The Everglades. To date, the entire website has 700 images within its five galleries.
Andy Wraithmell
Originally from Liverpool, England, Andy has lived in Tallahassee, Florida with his wife Julie for almost 4 years. After leaving high school in 1988 he joined the British Royal Navy and sailed under the seven seas in a Nuclear Submarine! A career change was inevitable and after leaving the military he was selected to join the National Trusts apprentice ranger program and went to Bicton College to study Environmental Conservation. After graduating in 1999 he went onto work as a research assistant for the R.S.P.B and then as the assistant bander at Dungeness Bird Observatory for 3 years. Andy switched to this side of the pond in 2003 and was the sea watch counter at Cape May Bird Observatory in New Jersey; he later went onto band shorebirds there in 2005. Andy currently works at the Wild Birds Unlimited store in Tallahassee and as a tour leader for Simon Thompson and his company Ventures Birding and Nature Tours. Andy also operates his own wildlife tour company, Limeybirder Tours, in the Big Bend of Florida and is a published photographer and writer. Birding has taken him to many places including much of Western Europe & the Mediterranean Islands, Canary Islands, South Africa, New Mexico and Arizona. His favorite bird is the Peregrine Falcon.Ramiro Yabar
Ramiro Yabar speaks English, Spanish and Quechua and has been working in the rainforest since 1980. He started bird watching in 1985. Ramiro has been guiding tours in the Manu Biosphere Reserve since 1988 and was awarded the Best Naturalist Guide in Manu in 1998 and 2000. As a birding guide he leads tours to all areas of Peru and has also done guiding in Costa Rica, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Brazil and Ecuador.Virgilio Yabar
Virgilio Yabar has a Biology degree and has also been deeply involved with the study of birds and has been birding since 1985. His Thesis was done on the diversity and abundance of the Communities of present birds in Amazonia Lodge area in the year 2000. He has also been involved with State ornithological projects in Manu National Park.Together with his brother Ramiro and their father Santiago, they have made ornithological expeditions to remote areas in the Cusco, Madre de Dios, and Apurimac departments.
He speaks English and Spanish and his hobby is the making of wildlife videos as well as photography. Virgilio is the contributor of many videos and photographs for the Internet Bird Collection and the Hummingbird Photo Gallery.
Louise Zemaitis
Louise Zemaitis is an artist, naturalist and tour leader for Visitor Emanuel Nature Tours, living in Cape May, New Jersey. She is a popular field trip leader in Cape May where she leads bird and butterfly walks and teaches birding workshops as an Associate Naturalist with Cape May Bird Observatory. Louise is also coordinator of the Monarch Monitoring Project in Cape May and curator of the Cape May Bird Observatory Art Gallery. An honors graduate at Temple University's Tyler School of Art, she enjoys working as a freelance artist and her illustrations have been widely published.Maria Zondervan
Maria Zondervan is a wildlife biologist with the St. Johns River Water Management District. She is currently involved with projects involving burrowing owls, scrub jays, gopher tortoises, bald eagles, alligators, red-cockaded woodpeckers, and eastern blue birds. She is also involved with the District's prescribed burning program. Maria is an active member of the Florida Chapter of The Wildlife Society and is a graduate from the University of Florida's School of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation.
|
Click here to send eMail inquiries about the Festival or Contest.
Webmaster: nbbdcom@gmail.com