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Nikon and The Brevard Nature Alliance present Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival November 16 - 20, 2005 -- Brevard County, Florida A celebration of birds and wildlife. |
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Nikon and The Brevard Nature Alliance present Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival November 16 - 20, 2005 -- Brevard County, Florida A celebration of birds and wildlife. |
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| Holly Ambrose | Patricia Ashton | Ray Ashton | Robert J. Austin | Dr. Gian Basili | Kurt Beate | Carlos Bethancourt | Wes Biggs | M. Rebecca Bolt | Gregory D. Bossart, V.M.D., Ph.D. | Jeff Bouton | Dave Breininger | Susan Cerulean | Buck and Linda Cooper | Jim Danzenbaker | Kevin Doxstater | Alexander Dzib | Victor Emanuel | Sandra Friend | Marty Folk | Warren Frost | Verena Gerber | Dr. Grant Gilmore | Captain Peggy Goldberg | Dave Goodwin | Karla Hart | Ross Hinkle | Denver Holt | Stephen Ingraham | Carol Jones | Kevin Karlson | Sarah Linney | Lorne K. Malo | Larry Manfredi | David R. McDonald | Marc Minno | Xavier Munoz | Thomas Penders | Cecilia Riley | Jeremy Roberts | Paul A. Schmalzer | Mark D. Sees | Andrew Shepard | Brian Sherman | David Simpson | Julio Soto | Jim Stahl | John Stiner | Eugene Stoccardo | Doug Stuckey | Joanna Taylor | Lynda White | Dorn Whitmore | Joanne Williams | Maria Zondervan |
Holly Ambrose
Holly Ambrose publishes EcoFlorida, a quarterly newsletter about Florida nature travel and issues affecting the Florida environment. The newsletter has taken her to wild places throughout the state.top
Patricia Ashton
Patricia Ashton is a botanist and educator who received her masters degree from the University of Florida. She is president of Ashton, Ashton & Associates, a consulting firm that works with conservation of protected species and habitats in Florida and around the world. She is on the board of the Ashton Biodiversity Research and Preservation Institute, the parent organization of the Gopher Tortoise Conservation Initiative. This program was developed to meet the educational needs of professionals and the general public on the conservation of the gopher tortoise and its habitats. The book Gopher Tortoise, A Natural History (Pineapple Press) is a popular version of the scientific work, A The Natural History and Management of the Gopher Tortoise (Krieger Press). These books are only a part of the educational programs being offered by GTCI. The courses that GTCI offers and other materials are available at WWW. Ashtonbiodiversity.org. Patricia is a high school biology teacher as well as a researcher on gopher tortoises. Her expertise as a field botanist has led to a better understanding of how tortoises feed and how we should manage them. Patricia is known for her enthroning interpretation of plants that goes way beyond just giving them names. Patricia was the education travel director for International Expeditions for 6 years and became a well known expert in Ecotourism having published several book chapters and the book Ecotourism In Central America.top
Ray 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 if 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 Patricia wrote the three volume Handbook of The 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. Today he manages the Ashton Biodiversity Research & Preservation Institute and the 200 acre Preserve where there are many on going research. Ray is a well known international expert in sustainable tourism and protected area development. He has developed and led birding expeditions to 17 countries and has worked on policy development and creating protected areas in approximately 50 other countries. He has published numerous articles, book chapters, and books on wildlife, wildlife conservation, and sustainable tourism practices.top
Robert J. Austin
Robert J. Austin, Vice President and Principal Investigator of Southeastern Archaeological Research, Inc., received the Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Florida and a M.A. in Cultural Resource Management from the University of South Florida. He has worked as a Florida archaeologist and cultural resource consultant for over 20 years. His interests include the economic and social uses of lithic raw materials in prehistory. He is past President of the Florida Archaeological Council, Inc. and past Editor of The Florida Anthropologist. In his spare time, he collects vintage vinyl records, roots for the Devil Rays, and sleeps on his deck overlooking the Alafia River.top
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.top
Kurt Beate
NOMADTREK is a German-run enterprise founded by Mr. Kurt Beate. Born in Ecuador, of German parents, he speaks fluent German, English and Spanish, and has experience of more than 28 years in the development of Standard and Special tours in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, he is also a pioneer in Eco - Tourism. Our own infrastructures and our experience permit us to offer you special birding tours to the National parks of Cuyabeno and Yasuní in the Amazon Jungle; Adventure Tours like Trekking and Mountain Climbing programs in the Ecuadorian Andes; and Excursions experiencing the magic Galapagos Islands. Our reliable reputation can be witnessed first hand with our staff of specialists, offering standard and outlined tours, which will meet every wish and requirement of our customers.top
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.top
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.top
M. Rebecca Bolt
Rebecca Bolt is a Wildlife Ecologist for Dynamac Corporation at the Kennedy Space Center. She has a Masters degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Central Florida, and over 20 years of experience working with wildlife on the Kennedy Space Center. As a wildlife ecologist for NASA's Life Science Services Contract (LSSC), she conducts monitoring and research to determine and minimize the effects of space operations on KSC's habitats and animals. Becky has worked with a wide variety of wildlife, including sea turtles, gopher tortoises, a variety of snakes including eastern indigo snakes, wading birds, Bald Eagles, Scrub-Jays, and beach mice. She is also actively involved with the LSSC's education efforts.top
Gregory D. Bossart, V.M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Gregory Bossart has spent the last 26 years working in marine mammal and avian medicine and wildlife pathology. He has over 70 publications focused primarily on the pathologic basis of disease in wild animals. His 1973 undergraduate degrees in biology and physical geography are from the University of Pittsburgh. He received his doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of Pennsylvania in 1978. From 1981-1985, he was a resident and NIH fellow in the Department of Pathology at the University of Miami School of Medicine. In 1995, he completed his Ph.D. in manatee and dolphin immunology at Florida International University. He has been in private veterinary practice and presently is a clinical veterinary consultant at theVeracruz Aquarium (Mexico); Sociedad Civil Mamiraus (Amazonia, Brazil); Omacha Foundation (Amazonia, Colombia); Coastal Zone Management Authority (Belize); Kwata (French Guiana) and Guyana Zoological Park (Georgetown, Guyana). He also conducts conservation outreach programs in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Belize and Guyana. Since 1981, he has been the Medical Director at the Falcon Batchelor Bird of Prey Center at the Miami Museum of Science. Presently, he is Director and Head of Pathology in the Division of Marine Mammal Research and Conservation at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Ft. Pierce, Florida. He is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Miami School of Medicine, Affiliate Professor at Florida Atlantic University and on the graduate faculty at the Medical University of South Carolina. His recent published research has documented emerging diseases in manatees, whales, dolphins, and birds. He recently completed a chapter exclusively on manatee medicine in an international textbook of marine mammal medicine. He has helped characterize the first viral disease in manatees and was responsible for developing the first immunohistochemical technique for diagnosing brevetoxicosis in marine mammals and birds. This diagnostic methodology is now being tested in humans exposed to brevetoxins. Dr. Bossart was awarded the Dean's Clinical Research Award for his pioneering work at the University of Miami School of Medicine. He has collaborative research projects with the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOS, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Miami Museum of Science. Examples of his research can be found in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Veterinary Pathology, Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, Veterinary Record, Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery, Toxicologic Pathology, Marine Mammal Science, Experimental and Molecular Pathology, Aquatic Mammals, Florida Scientist, Journal of Raptor Research, Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation and Nature.top
Jeff Bouton
Jeff Bouton began birding over two decades ago and spent the better part of his early years as binoculars for hire, willing to go anywhere that offered a small stipend and birds to study. Jeff's adventures brought him from meager beginnings in upstate New York, to Connecticut, New Jersey, Colorado, Arizona, and even through the wilds of Alaska before settling down in Port Charlotte, Florida 6 years ago. In this time, Jeff banded migrant hawks, owls, and passerines along the south shore of Lake Ontario near Braddock Bay. He summered along the coast of Connecticut where he cut his teeth on salt marsh and other coastal habitats and the denizens that reside within. He was fortunate enough to spend 4 consecutive fall seasons in Cape May, New Jersey where he learned a great deal from the many talented birders and the hordes of birds passing through this famed migration hot spot! In between, he got his first taste of the desert southwest and Rocky Mountains when he summered in Colorado and hung out with peregrine falcons (quite literally, as banding Peregrine Falcon chicks often required being suspended on a rope hundreds of feet above the scree slope and canyon floor below!) In 1992 Jeff, made his first trek to Alaska to survey portions of the 13,000,000 acre Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve, and after this first taste of Alaskan charm, decided to stay for a while. Over the course of seven years living in Alaska, he was involved in many research projects throughout the state and led bird and wildlife tours to the many remote areas of the state. While here, Jeff presented workshops at various venues including the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival. He worked as a consultant on the 2 CD set, "Bird Songs of Alaska", and was one of the chapter authors and consulted on the, "ABA guide to Bird Finding, Alaska".Since moving to warmer climes, Jeff has been involved as a presenter and field trip leader at annual Florida bird and wildlife festivals, American Birding Association conventions in Florida and Texas, at the statewide Audubon Assembly, for the Florida Ornithological Society, and at a local level with many different bird and wildlife groups. In addition to a full time job, Jeff works part-time for the state Fish and Wildlife Commission monitoring and banding Florida Scrub-Jays, works as a contract biologist monitoring breeding populations of Least Terns, Snowy and Wilson's Plovers, and volunteers on Red-cockaded Woodpecker population studies near his home in Port Charlotte, Florida. He recently wrote a chapter revision for inclusion in the update to the current ABA Bird-finding Guide to Florida and always enjoys time outdoors with his family in and around the great state of Florida. In July 2004, Jeff was hired by Leica Sports Optics to be the Product Specialist for Birding/Naturalist Markets.
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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.top
Susan Cerulean
Susan Cerulean is the director of the Red Hills Writers Project in Tallahassee, Florida, and coeditor of Between Two Rivers: Stories from the Red Hills to the Gulf. She is also the author of the Florida Wildlife Viewing Guide, editor of The Book of the Everglades, and coeditor of Guide to the Great Florida Birding Trail: East Section and The Wild Heart of Florida.top
Buck and Linda Cooper
Buck and Linda were the 1998 recipients of Florida Audubon's distinguished Allan Cruickshank Memorial Award for their extensive conservation work in the state of Florida. They were resident naturalists at Street Audubon Nature Center in Winter Haven for 13 years. Recently retired, they now have even more time to spend with the natural world. They are acknowledged experts in the identification of Florida butterflies using binoculars only. This non-consumptive approach to butterflying is being utilized by more and more butterfly enthusiasts throughout the nation. At a North American Butterfly Association's (NABA) biennial conference in Florida they gave an identification workshop of the 65 skippers of Florida to a large group from all over the United States and Canada.top
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.top
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's 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.naturalvisoinsphoto.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.
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Alexander Dzib
Aleander Dzib is the professional Birding Naturalist Guide for the Ecoparaiso Hotel in Celestun,Yucatan, Mexico. He has held that position since 2000. Alex holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies (B.S.) from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. In 1997 he graduated as a Naturalist Guide from the RARE Center for Tropical Conservation. Deeply concerned with the conservation of the birds of the Yucatan Peninsula, Alex also works to monitor migratory birds of the Yucatan Peninsula, as well as the world's largest population of flamingoes.top
Victor Emanuel
Victor Emanuel started birding in Texas 57 years ago at the age of eight. His travels have taken him to all the continents, with his areas of concentration being Texas, Arizona, Mexico, Panama, and Peru. He is the founder and compiler for 40 years of the record-breaking Freeport Christmas Bird Count, and served a term as president of the Texas Ornithological Society. Birds and natural history have been a major focus throughout his life. He derives great pleasure from seeing and hearing birds, and sharing with others these avian sights and sounds, both the common ones and the more unusual ones. He initiated the first birding camps for young people, and considers that one of his greatest achievements. Victor holds a B.A. in zoology and botany from the University of Texas and an M.A. in government from Harvard. In 1993, he was the recipient of the Roger Tory Peterson Excellence in Birding Award, given by the Houston Audubon Society in recognition of a lifetime of dedication to careful observation, education, and addition to the body of avian knowledge. In 2004, he received the Roger Tory Peterson Award from the American Birding Association, and the Arthur A. Allen Award from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Victor is a member of the board of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.top
Sandra Friend
Author of seven books on Florida hiking, Sandra Friend serves as Communications Coordinator for the Florida Trail Association and has walked more than 2,500 miles on Florida's footpaths while researching and for fun. Her latest guidebook, "A Hiker's Guide to the Sunshine State" (University Press of Florida) was released in October 2005.top
Marty Folk
Marty Folk is a wildlife biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. He works with all aspects regarding the release and monitoring of Whooping Cranes in Central Florida. Marty did his graduate work on Mid-continent Sandhill Cranes in the North Platte River Valley of Nebraska. So, he's had the good fortune to have studied the most abundant crane species on earth (Sandhill Crane) and the most endangered one (Whooping Crane). He keeps up with the cranes by means of a tiny radio transmitter attached to a leg band. The cranes can be tracked for up to 3 miles on land and up to 40 miles from air craft. Marty spends 50 to 75% of his time in the field with the cranes.top
Warren Frost
Warren Frost has lived and birded in the Titusville area for the past 11 years. An avid birder since his youth, Warren has spent many years birding around the United States. He is a long time member of the American Birding Association and the Indian River Audubon Society.top
Verena Gerber
Verena Gerber is the Owner and President of the Board of Eco Paraiso, S.A. de C.V. (Hotel Ecoparaiso Xixim, Celestun, Yucatan, Mexico) and Shareholder and President of the Board of Arrecife Caribeño S.A. de C.V. (Hotel Las Palapas, Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico). She is an active member and Treasurer of the Mexican Association of Adventure Tourism and Ecotourism A.C. [AMTAVE]. Verena graduated with a degree in Business Administration from the IPADE in Mexico City, is a Certified Physical Therapist and is active in several related associations. She is the Founder and former Chief Physical Therapist in the Instituto Nacional de la Nutricion, Salvador Zubiran, Mexico, D.F.top
Dr. Grant Gilmore
Dr. R. Grant Gilmore has been studying the fish community and ecology of the Indian River Lagoon and Caribbean Sea for the past 31 years. He has published over 50 technical and popular papers on fish ecology and life history including reproductive habits of spotted seatrout, groupers, and sharks. He has appeared on 12 nationally and internationally televised programs. His appearances include programs on the Discovery Channel, and the National Geographic Ocean Science Documentary on the first American research expedition into Cuban waters since the revolution. Dr. Gilmore pioneered the sound transect technique of isolating spawning populations of spotted seatrout, black drum and silver perch. Dr. Gilmore joined the Dynamac Corporation on December 30, 1998 after spending 27 years with the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution at Fort Pierce, Florida. Dr Gilmore left Dynamac in 2003 and has worked as a consultant since.top
Captain Peggy Goldberg
Peggy has been a nature photographer for more than 45 years, getting involved in underwater photography 20 years ago. She travels and dives over a good part of the world in search of images, but really enjoys the opportunities our areas of Florida have to offer. Peggy is a Master Scuba Diver Trainer, Handicapped Scuba Instructor, and a US Coast Guard certified captain who runs her own eco, photo, and dive tours on local rivers. She also teaches photography and videography. She is a member of the Florida Outdoor Writers Association and has had articles published in numerous magazines and books. Her works have been exhibited in many homes, businesses and museums. She has worked with German Films, BBC and PBS, in addition to doing location scouting for the film and television industry. Peggy's goal is to show through her photographs the natural world around us, and to teach others what we risk losing if we are unaware of these treasures or are just too apathetic to care.top
Dave Goodwin
Dave started 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.top
Karla Hart
Karla Hart is the Watchable Wildlife Program Coordinator for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. She is a lifelong Alaskan who came to the Watchable Wildlife program with more than 12 years of Alaska nature tourism guiding and trip planning experience, and a personal passion for wildlife viewing and travel that has taken her from the Amazon to the Arctic and Asia to Australia. She spent her most recent summer vacation watching brown bears up-close on the Alaska Peninsula. Karla loves watching birds, but is more interested in observing behaviors than in listing. Academically, her background is in the social rather than biological sciences. She is a great believer in the values of wildlife watching and in citizen scientists (you) sharing your important observations to expand our knowledge of the natural world.top
Dr. Ross Hinkle
Ross Hinkle is Chief Scientist for Dynamac Corporation at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Ross has specialized in the development and application of ecological monitoring and research activities at KSC for the past 18 years. He is Chair of the Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands Selection and Management Committee and a Senior Ecologist serving on the Ecological Society of America's Board of Professional Certification.top
Denver Holt
Denver Holt is a wildlife researcher and graduate of the University of Montana. He is founder and president of the Owl Research Institute and the Ninepipes Wildlife Research and Education Center, a non-profit organization, located in Charlo, Montana. He is a field researcher and believes in long-term studies as the only means to understanding trends in natural history. Since 1978, his particular focus has been researching owls and their ecology. He has published about 60 papers and technical documents, including three species accounts for the Birds of North America project. He was the teamleader for the Strigidae (owls) species accounts for The Handbook of the Birds of the World, covering 189 species of owls. He has also co-authored a science book on owls for children. In 2000 he was named Montana's Wildlife Biologist of the Year. This award is presented annually by the Wildlife Society of North America.Denver also leads private natural history tours and proceeds are directed back into the Owl Research Institute's programs. He also contracts regularly as a guide for Victor Emanuel Nature Tour Company.
Denver has worked on owls in Alaska, Massachusetts, Montana, and in Central America and Japan. His work has been acknowledged on ABC, CBS, NBC, and featured on CNN Science News, Audubon's Up-Close Series, Disney, PBS's Bird Watch, and David Attenborough's Life of Birds, among others. He was Keynote speaker at the Cape May Bird Festival in October 2001 and at the Rio Gande Valley Bird Festival in November 2001. His research on Snowy Owls was featured on November 18th, 2002 on National Geographic Explorer television program and in the December issue of 2002 in National Geographic Magazine.
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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.top
Carol Jones
Carol Jones is the Education Program Manager for the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory (GCBO) located in Lake Jackson, TX. A naturalist and bird watcher, Carol's educational background includes a B.A. in Zoology from the University of Texas Austin and graduate level work in chemistry at the University of Houston. Prior to her position at the GCBO, Ms. Jones spent 30 years in the chemical industry where she traveled internationally to resolve customer issues and conduct extensive training for sales teams and potential customers. A birder and nature enthusiast all her adult life, she has spent many hours participating in volunteer activities for habitat conservation and environmental awareness and monitoring.Currently, Carol's professional activities include being the Tournament Coordinator for the Great Texas Birding Classic and coordinating other educational activities related to conservation issues associated with migratory birds and protection of critical habitat along the Texas Gulf Coast.
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Kevin Karlson
Kevin T. Karlson has been a wildlife photographer for 24 years and active as a birder for 26 years. He has traveled from the wilds of the Alaskan Arctic to the rainforests of Central and 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 a major revision of 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 used in the project. This comprehensive revision was released in April 2002, with many new photos and the inclusion of plumages not previously shown in older versions. In 1999, Kevin assisted John Robinson of Lanius Software in the submission of 110 photos for the "North American Bird Reference Book" CD-ROM, and recently added another 60 photos to a revision of this product.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 to Wild Bird include writing feature articles. He is a former photo editor of North American Birds, an ornithological journal of the ABA. Besides photography, Kevin authors numerous articles on birds, from advice on good locations to see and photograph them to insights on natural history. He recently signed a contract with Houghton Miflin Publishers to produce a book called "The Shorebird Guide", with co-authors Richard Crossley and Michael O'Brien. This comprehensive field guide, due to be released in 2005, will contain almost 700 photos and outline a simpler method of bird identification for beginners and experts alike.
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. Year 2002 keynotes include the Bald Eagle Festival in Klamath Falls Oregon, Houston Audubon Society and Houston Ornithological Group in Texas and the Central Valley Bird Symposium in Stockton California. 2003 venues included the San Diego Bird Festival, Eastern Shore of Virginia Bird Festival and the Rio Grande Bird Festival in Harlingen Texas.
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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, where she currently holds the Office of President.top
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.top
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, travelling 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.
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David R. McDonald
David McDonald is a retired Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Reserve, with over 21 years active duty. He served in many positions ranging from Airborne Infantryman, Field Artillery Officer, Attack and Scout Helicopter Pilot to Force Modernization Program Manager.His interest in amateur archaeology began with a chance find on Merritt Island in 1977. Following retirement, David began intense studies of local archaeology in 2001 in order to develop a public school program. To date, he has conducted over 60 classes in five schools. With special emphasis on experimental archaeology, David is able to highlight the visual and hands-on aspects of local archaeology. He is a member of the Indian River Anthropological Society and has participated in archaeological projects with this group. David is a native Merritt Islander and fourth generation Floridian.
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Marc Minno
Marc Minno is a wetland scientist for the Saint Johns River Water Management District where he works to preserve rare habitats, and on conservation of threatened animals and plants, with a special emphasis on butterflies. He has worked for years with the Native Plant Society and various other conservation organizations. Marc has written or co-authored many scientific and popular articles on butterflies and moths, as well as the books Butterflies of the Florida Keys, Florida Butterfly Gardening and Butterflies Through Binoculars: Florida. His newest book, A Guide to Florida Butterfly Caterpillars and their Hosts was recently published by University Press.top
Xavier Munoz
Xavier Munoz is a 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 birdwatching and cultural tours to Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela and Brazil.top
Thomas Penders
Thomas Penders is a registered professional archaeologist who owns and operates Thomas Penders & Associates an archaeological, historical and paleontological consulting firm. He is also president of the Indian River Anthropological Society. He has over 20 years experience as a professional archaeologist including being a member of the Windover Archaeological Research Project. He is project archaeologist for the Pine Island Conservation Area Archaeological Project.top
Cecilia Riley
Cecilia Riley is the Executive Director of the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory (GCBO) located in Lake Jackson, TX. A native Texan, biologist and avid bird watcher, Cecilia has committed her life's' work to avian research and natural history in both North America and Latin America. Cecilia's educational background includes a B.S. in Ecology from the University of Texas and an MS in Zoology from the University of Arkansas. Prior to her position at the GCBO, Ms. Riley spent 8 years at the UT Marine Science Institute as a Research Associate followed by 2 years at Texas Parks and Wildlife where she served as the state coordinator for Texas Partners in Flight. Currently, Cecilia's professional activities are focused on the conservation issues associated with migratory birds and protection of critical habitat in the ecologically important Gulf coastal zone, from Florida to the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and Cuba.top
Jeremy Roberts
Jeremy Roberts is a naturalist with Papoose Creek Lodge, an eco-tourism lodge in SW Montana where he leads birding and botany trips via canoe and foot. Jeremy has vast biological background that includes work with wolverines, sage grouse, insects, plants, and laboratory work with lynx DNA. He currently runs butterfly count for the North American Butterfly Association, a Breeding Bird Survey route for the USGS, and also bands birds. Jeremy is skilled Montana woodsman who teaches flint knapping, friction fire, primitive archery, and wild edibles of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. He is concurrently a graduate student in the Science & Natural History Filmmaking Program at Montana State University.top
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.top
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.top
Andrew Shepard
Andrew Shepard is Director of the NOAA Undersea Research Center-- Southeast U.S. & Gulf of Mexico region, located at the University of North Carolina- Wilmington. The undersea center specializes in use of advanced diving technologies to support NOAA's ocean mission goals, which encompass a wide variety of science objectives, for example: fish ecology, past climate change recorded in seafloor geology, oil and gas seafloor seeps and deep sea communities that live off the seeping hydrocarbons, and deep and shallow coral reef health. The center operates the world's only offshore undersea laboratory, Aquarius, located 5 miles off of Key Largo, FL. Aquanauts live for up to a month in the lab to study the reefs. Astronauts use the lab to train for upcoming shuttle and space station missions. Mr. Shepard's personal interests cover a wide variety of diving related research, including: habitat mapping of deep coral communities, assessing the impacts of fishing gear on ocean ecosystems, and exploration and description of gas hydrate beds at the seafloor."top
Brian Sherman
Brian Sherman has worked for Delaware North Parks and Resorts at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex for over 6 years. He has held several positions within the organization including; Manager of Safety/Security & Risk Management, Visitor Complex Manager of Operations, and currently is the Manager of Operations at the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. Brian enjoys his work in Operations Management where he gets the opportunity to share his passion about space exploration with people from all over the world.However, while Brian's job is all about future, it's only ironic that his hobby is about Florida's prehistoric past. Approximately 6-7 years ago, Brian was introduced to amateur paleontology. He was completely taken off guard when discovering that Florida was home to so many prehistoric creatures, whose fossils remains are abundantly scattered throughout different regions in the state. Since then his hobby has become an ongoing adventure of discovery, education and science.
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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.top
Julio Soto
Julio Soto began his career with Auto Club South in 1992 as a frontline Travel Counselor in the North Tampa Florida branch and quickly took over the management role. He was promoted to the newly created position of District Sales Manager for AAA SignaTours (Parent of AAA Adventures) in 1996. He is credited to bringing AAA SignaTours into the forefront with differentiated products in the marketplace, such as AAA Adventures products among others.In late 1999 Julio left AAA to join the sales team for General Tours. General Tours was/is one of the largest first class escorted and independent tour companies in the world with heavy emphasis on Exotic destinations such as Central and South America, Far East and Africa to name a few. Upon his return to AAA Auto Club South in November of 2000, Julio accepted the role of Product Manager and has furthered position AAA Travel in the marketplace by infusing life into our new and exciting product offerings, AAA Adventures products, AAA Premier Collection, AAA SignaTours, AAA Family Vacations, AAA Diamond Vacations and others.
Julio has recently been appointed to the newly created position of Director of Sales & Alliance Services. His overwhelming passion for travel compliments the AAA SignaTours experience. Julio has a proven track record of solid product knowledge. Julio's unprecedented travel experiences which he utilizes when consulting travel counselors and AAA Members alike includes visits to exotic destinations such as India, Egypt, Nepal, East Africa, Central/South America, China, Russia and Eastern/Western Europe.
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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.top
John Stiner
John Steiner 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.top
Eugene Stoccardo
Eugene started birding in Central Florida 20 years ago and quickly became known as one of the best observers in Florida. He has conducted breeding surveys of island nesting colonies, and has led tours for Florida Nature Tours for several years. Eugene is involved with a number of Florida conservation organizations and is active in efforts to check urban sprawl in the Central Florida area. His knowledge of Florida native plants and ecology adds another dimension to the experience of being in the field with Eugene.top
Doug Stuckey
Doug Stuckey is a veteran birder and long time member of the Space Coast Audubon Society who 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.top top
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.top
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.top
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's 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.top
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.
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