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Biographies

Keynote Speaker: Jon L. Dunn


Jon L. Dunn is chief consultant and author of all seven editions of the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America and a birding tour leader for over 30 years, Jon will share his passion of birds and exceptional knowledge of the challenges of identifying the Pacific Flyway's waterfowl.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: “The Beauty & the Identification Challenges of the Central Valley’s Waterfowl.”

Few locations in North America have greater concentrations of waterfowl than the Central Valley. Indeed, ornithologically, the Central Valley is best known for its concentrations of ducks and geese. The males of course are striking and easy to identify, but females and eclipse birds (summer and early fall) represent much tougher identification challenges. We will admire the beauty of the breeding plumaged males, but also take time to review some of the key identification features of the more cryptically colored females and review the more difficult groups like female teal, wigeon, and scaup.

We will also discuss the very distinctive elgasi subspecies (the “Tule Goose”) of the Greater White-fronted Goose, the entire population (about 10,000) breeds in Alaska between the Alaska Range and Cook Inlet and winters entirely in the northern Sacramento Valley. It probably should be recognized as a separate species.”

Jon L. Dunn has spent much of his life birding in California. He is a tour leader for Wings and has written (or co-authored) numerous articles and a handful of books on bird identification and distribution. These include Birds of Southern California, Status and Distribution (with Kimball Garrett), all seven editions of the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America (the latest with Jonathan Alderfer), Warblers (with Kimball Garrett), Gulls of the Americas (with Steve Howell) and Birding Essentials (with Jonathan Alderfer). Jon served for many years as Chair and as a member on the ABA Checklist Committee, and has been a member of the California Bird Records Committee for nearly 30 years and the AOS’s Committee on Classification and Nomenclature since 2000. Jon is a board member for Western Field Ornithologists and lives in Bishop, California, on the east side of the Sierra Nevada.

Leader Biographies

Carol Anderson

Carol Anderson is a retired high school biology teacher with a life-long interest in nature. A member of Altacal Audubon Society since retirement, she enjoys learning from experienced birders. She has assisted in the grebe survey at the Thermalito afterbay, the birding class of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at CSU, Chico, and the Northern Saw-whet Owl banding project.

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Linda Angerer

Linda Angerer is a U.S. Forest Service wildlife Biologist and currently the Bat Coordinator for California's National Forests.

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Skip Augur

Skip Augur has been an avid local birder and served Altacal Audubon in various capacities for over 30 years.

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Jon Aull

Jon Aull received his master's degree studying parks and natural resources in the recreation department at Chico State. He is the education coordinator for the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve.

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Amy Darwin & Everett Ayers

Amy Darwin & Everett Ayers have lived in Paradise since 2009. Even after backpacking in the Grapevine Mountains of Death Valley and in the redwoods along the North Coast, they still feel they've barely begun to see California. At home, they've identified more than 70 species of birds. They hope to lengthen their list by adding even more native plants to their oak and pine landscape, and by continuing to improve their observation skills.

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Donald Beers

Don Beers worked for the California State Park System for over 30 years. The Roads, Trails and Resource Section that he supervised were responsible for the District's trail construction and maintenance, backcountry road re-engineering and maintenance, and watershed restoration project implementation. Don has been one of the lead instructors in the National Trails Training Program, and the California State Park Trails Training Program. This included working on developing the curriculum for these two programs. He has lectured and presented workshops at State, National and Professional trail conferences. Don is currently working on the California State Park's Trails Handbook revision and is one of the principal authors of that handbook.

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Jay Bogiatto

Jay Bogiatto, M. S., teaches Waterfowl Biology and Wetland Management, Ornithology, Mammalogy, and Advanced Zoology in the Biology Department at CSU, Chico (CSUC). Jay also serves as Faculty Advisor for the CSUC Chapter of the California Waterfowl Association, and Co-Faculty Advisor for Omicron Theta Epsilon, the CSUC biology honor society. In addition, Jay serves as Curator of the CSUC Vertebrate Museum.

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Joyce Bond

Joyce Bond has been an avid birder for more than two decades and is a member of Altacal Audubon Society. She teaches a class called "Birding in the Chico Area" for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at CSU, Chico, leading birding field trips to locations all around the area and helping students learn how to ID birds from field marks and by ear. She also enjoys painting and photographing birds.

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Jim Burcio

Jim Burcio graduated from Humboldt State College with a degree in Wildlife Management and Biology. Jim carved his first decoy in 1974 and since then has competed nationally, judged at the three major carving shows on the west coast, as well as the World Championships in Ocean City, Maryland. His work has been displayed at several museums. Since the early 1990's, Jim has taught bird carving seminars for the Pacific Flyway Decoy Association. In 2010, and 2012, Jim was selected by the Ward Foundation in Salisbury, Maryland to be an instructor in their National Endowment for the Arts Grant.

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Carol Burr

Carol Burr, PhD, is Professor Emerita from Chico State, where she taught literature in the English Department for 37 years and served in a number of administrative positions. Married to Roger Lederer, an ornithologist, she learned about birds and became an active bird watcher on travels around the world. In retirement, she returned to a childhood love of drawing and illustrated Dr. Lederer's The Birds of Bidwell Park (2009), using pen and colored pencils. She is also the co-author with her husband of Latin for Bird Lovers, published by Timber Press in 2014.

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Diego Bustamante

Diego Bustamante is an avid birder who lives in Paradise. He is 18 years old, and started birding in 2011 at the age of 12, learning to identify birds in his backyard. He has participated in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project FeederWatch (tallying birds in one's yard twice a week during the winter months) for 3 years. Diego has been active with the Altacal Audubon Society for several years, and has begun leading trips for them. Birding is his favorite hobby, but his big passion is music. He is a classical pianist, and is currently pursuing a degree in piano performance.

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Dean Carrier

Dean Carrier has been a life-long wildlife biologist (his first bird book is dated "Christmas, 1943"). Graduating from Humboldt State University, he worked professionally for the Arizona Game and Fish Department and then for the U.S. Forest Service where he was responsible for a variety of endangered species work locally, regionally and nationally until his retirement in 1991. As a frustrated left-brained individual with right-brained yearnings (he couldn't sketch a critter that looked like one if he wanted to) he found his artistic niche in photography which he has been active in for 45 years. He travels both domestically and abroad to pursue his bird photography habit and uses his images (and others) for PowerPoint presentations on nature and ecology for grammar school children in Butte County.

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Cris Cline

Cris Cline began birding in college while taking an ornithology class at Chico State. For many years she helped rescue and rehabilitate injured and orphaned wild birds. Life got in the way of birding for many years, but then in 2012, she started bird watching again and watches birds in both her back yard and on field trips. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Altacal Audubon Society and has participated in multiple field surveys.

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Andrew Conlin

Andrew Conlin has worked as a Soil Scientist for the NRCS for 28 years. After mapping soils in IL, MN, NY and the San Joaquin Valley, he completed the Soil Surveys of Butte County and Lassen Volcanic National Park. Andrew has provided soils tours for 20 years, explaining the relationships between soils, geomorphology, and vegetation.

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Charlie Cornell

Charles Cornell holds a degree in Geography. He has birded in Butte County since the 1970s, worked for the U. S. Forest Service, and volunteered in Outdoor & Environmental Education programs. Living near rice fields in Butte County, he enjoys stepping outside at night and hearing goose music and Great Horned Owls.

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Tim Davis

Tim Davis is a retired California State Park Ranger who has worked at a variety of parks throughout the state including Anza Borrego Desert SP, Emerald Bay/D.L. Bliss SP, and Hollister Hills SVRA. Local parks include Lake Oroville SRA, Bidwell Mansion SHP, and Bidwell-Sacramento River SP. As a Ranger he began leading hikes in the Sutter Buttes shortly after the State acquired Peace Valley and now continues as a State Park Volunteer.

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Michael Denega

Mike Denega, now retired, began his teaching career at Humboldt State University teaching Biological Statistics, Human Anatomy and Martial Arts. His love and enthusiasm for the biological sciences spread to El Dorado County where he has spent time since 1973 serving the science departments at Folsom Lake College (formally American River College) and El Dorado High School. Read more about Mike at http://www.mikedenega.com/the-photographer.html

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Jerry Dirnberger

While living in the wilds of Montana in the fall of 1999, Jerry Dirnberger, the internationally unknown birder and adventurer, heard the 'not so quiet' whispers of the migrating snow geese saying "head south, head south". Since then he has spent his winters both in Colombia, SA and Chico (where he has homes) enjoying the friendship of the birds he has encountered along the way.

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Amber Drake

Long time Chico resident Amber Drake has worked with children throughout her professional life. She is currently the Chico Area Manager for Play-Well TEKnologies, a national company based in the Bay Area that teaches STEM skills and inspires youth to explore engineering concepts using LEGO. Locally, she also offers LEGO birthday parties and camps and programs that use LEGO, including Art & Architecture and an original game: Mine, Craft, Build! A member of the Snow Goose Steering Committee, Amber has also helped coordinate the Junior Naturalist Activities for many Snow Goose Festivals.

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Dan Dugan

Dan Dugan is best known as the inventor of the automatic microphone mixer. He has been a technical mentor for the Nature Sounds Society since 1990. Dugan has recorded surround sound in many national parks including Muir Woods, Joshua Tree, and Yosemite. He has published six "relaxation CD's" of nature sounds with naturemusicdownload.com and a full-length dawn chorus from Mariposa Grove in Yosemite with listeningearth.com.

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Jon L. Dunn

Jon L. Dunn has spent much of his life birding in California. He is a tour leader for Wings and has written (or co-authored) numerous articles and a handful of books on bird identification and distribution. These include Birds of Southern California, Status and Distribution, (with Kimball Garrett), all seven editions of the National Geographic Society Field Guide to the Birds of North America (the latest with Jonathan Alderfer), Warblers (with Kimball Garrett), Gulls of the Americas (with Steve Howell) and Birding Essentials (with Jonathan Alderfer). Jon served for many years as Chair and as a member on the ABA Checklist Committee, and has been a member of the California Bird Records Committee for nearly 30 years and the AOS's Committee on Classification and Nomenclature since 2000. Jon is a board member for Western Field Ornithologists and lives in Bishop, California, on the east side of the Sierra Nevada.

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Dan Efseaff

Dan Efseaff has over 20 years of experience as a restoration ecologist and land manager. Currently, he is the District Manager for the Paradise Recreation and Park District and the Interim Ecological Reserves Manager for the CSU Chico Research Foundation. Mr. Efseaff has experience with a wide variety of restoration projects, conservation and agricultural lands management, education and outreach, water conservation, and overseeing watershed programs.

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Steve Emmons

Steve Emmons has been the Wildlife Refuge Manager for Sacramento and Delevan National Wildlife Refuges (Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex, Willows, CA) since 1996. Prior to his current position, he served as the Assistant Refuge Manager at Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge in Lake Arthur, LA (1990-1996) and the Fish and Wildlife Specialist at the Fort Carson Military Reservation, Colorado Springs, CO (1982-1990). Steve's primary interests include nature photography (particularly wildlife photography) and observing birds.

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Kirby Flanagan

Kirby is a professional nature and wildlife photographer residing in northwest Nevada. He is a member of the Lahontan Audubon Society in Reno, Nevada, a longtime member and current board member of the National Photography Enthusiasts Group (NPEG) of Bozeman, Montana and is a past member of the Cuyahoga Valley Photographic Society based in Peninsula, Ohio.

Kirby has been involved in photography for more than forty years and in bird photography for more than ten years. During those ten years, he has photographed birds in several midwestern states, most of the western states, Alaska and the Galapagos Islands. His interests are primarily in photographing raptors and waterfowl, but he enjoys photographing all birds. And he loves to teach.

Kirby has been a workshop leader, group shoot leader, speaker and webinar presenter for NPEG for over ten years. He is the author of the e-book "A Nature Photographer's Guide to Alaska". He is a blog and a podcaster on the "Photographing the West" podcast both his blog and his podcast episodes are available on his website at www.flanaganfotos.com.

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Matt Forster

Matt Forster is an avid outdoorsman and birder whose love of the land has him interested in conservation of habitat and restoration. He studied waterfowl biology and wetland management as well as ornithology at CSUChico.

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Bill Frey

Bill Frey generally resides and birds in Carson City, NV. When he is not there, he can sometimes be found wandering the many bird areas of California.

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Harry Fuller

Harry Fuller has been leading Pacific Coast bird trips for two decades. He frequently teaches bird classes for Point Reyes Field Seminars and other non-profits. He has led trips for Golden Gate Audubon of San Francisco to Malheur and the Oregon Cascades. He frequently leads custom trips in Oregon and Northern California.

Harry is the author of Freeway Birding, San Francisco to Seattle for birding Oregon, Washington and Northern California. He also teaches classes in the history of American ornithology.

Check out his blog at www.atowhee.wordpress.com and his birding website at http://www.towhee.net/index.html.

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Henry Ganzler

Henry Ganzler has been an avid photographer and videographer since the middle 70's, and studied photography and videography formally for several years at Butte College. His photographs have won awards in exhibits and contests at the Butte College art gallery, The Chico Chamber of Commerce, and an All Chico photography contest in the early 90's. Henry started his own video production company, Mindful Productions, in 1990. He has produced travel, cultural, and educational videos in many parts of the world, as well as training videos for businesses, and the Butte County Department of Behavioral Health. His video "Wetlands Wildlife - The Sacramento Valley" was selected and shown at the 2010 Gallery 1078 Film Festival in Chico and was shown at the Chico Museum as part of its series on the Rice Fields. Henry was a member of the Avenue 9 Gallery's Artist Guild until the gallery closed in 2014. He exhibits his photographs in various places in the Chico area.

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Dave Garcia

Dave Garcia is a retired 28 year veteran of California State Parks. He worked on Lake Oroville as a boating safety officer for 20 years and led kayaking, biking, and hiking tours at the 6 state parks he worked at.

Dave is an environmental advocate who has worked on local issues with Frack Free Butte County, Chico 350 Crude Oil Bomb Train Committee, and Save Oroville Trees.

Dave was also a National Sierra Club Outings Leader for 10 years, leading week long service trips to the Channel Islands; Pt Reyes National Seashore; Cayo Costa Barrier Island, Florida; rafting down Utah's Green River; Big Sur; Hells Canyon; Devils Postpile; and Lassen Volcanic National Park. Join Dave and learn about some of the wild and wacky nature experiences he's had.

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Gaylord Grams

Gaylord Grams is an avid local birder and has led many field trips for the Altacal Chapter of the Audubon Society.

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Herman Gray

Herman Gray is a retired physician. While traveling the world in his profession, he has enjoyed viewing many bird species. He is also an active Gray Lodge Wildlife Area docent.

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Matthew Greening

Matthew Greening recently moved to the area to complete his degree and pursue his passion for Civil Engineering. His love of learning and sharing knowledge (and LEGO!) led him to Play-Well, enabling him to lead camps and Enrichment Programs at local schools. When he's not studying or building with LEGO, he's busy with his custom woodworking business, Fox & Burl.

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Heidi Gysin

Heidi Gysin is local to Northern California. She moved to Chico for school and graduated in 2013 with a degree in Recreation Administration, with an option in Parks and Natural Resource Management. She has experience working with the Chico Park Division as their Volunteer Coordinator. She has worked as an outdoor education instructor with Kids and Creeks since 2011 and Rancho Esquon since 2013.

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Timmarie Hamill (The Stream Team)

Timmarie Hamill holds a B.S. in Biology, a Secondary Math and Science Teaching Credential, and a Masters in Science Teaching from California State University at Chico. As a biologist, she has planned and conducted water quality inventories as they relate to fish and wildlife in the private and public sectors for over 20 years. She has served as an Industrial Waste Inspector for the City of Chico, biologist for the Department of Water Resources, Executive Director for The Stream Team, science teacher for a small Charter School, and most recently, project manager for stormwater education and water quality assessment grants.

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Mike Hubbartt

Mike Hubbartt, author, California State Park Interpreter, and a Sutter Buttes Regional Land Trust board member, and hike guide has been actively involved in the preservation of the Sutter Buttes since 1996.

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Scott Huber

Scott Huber has been leading birding trips for the last decade, from Mexico to the Arctic.

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John W. Hunt

John Hunt has worked as a natural resources professional and project manager for more than 15 years. He is a wildlife biologist and botanist with a Master's Degree in Biology and certificate in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). John is the Executive Director of the Northern California Regional Land Trust.

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Todd Jesse

Todd Jesse is the lead park guide at the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center of Lassen Volcanic National Park. He enjoys sharing his passion for the winter environment with anyone adventurous enough to explore with him! Todd has been working in parks for just over a decade and fell in love with Lassen Volcanic in the summer of 2013 when he came to work his first season there. Before settling in at Lassen, Todd spent time as a ranger at Grand Canyon National Park and as a Peace Corps volunteer, serving for three years with the Peruvian equivalent of the National Park Service. He began his career at a small municipal park while obtaining a degree in geology from the University of Colorado-Boulder.

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Phil Johnson

Phil Johnson has been a long time board member of the Altacal Audubon Society, and he has coordinated the Oroville and Chico Christmas Bird Counts.

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Bob Joseph

Bob Joseph has been carving birds since 1985. Along with carving and painting, he has entered many competitions and received many first place ribbons, and several best of show awards. He enjoys bird watching, and is presently working with the Fallon, Nevada Wood Duck Project. This gives him an opportunity to actually hold many of the birds that he carves. Bob is presently the president of Pacific Flyway Decoy Association.

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Jeff Kidd

Jeff Kidd is a raptor ecologist who maintains various state and federal permits authorizing capture and take of threatened and endangered species ranging from butterflies to eagles. Since 1993 Jeff has concentrated his efforts in raptor research and banded approximately 10,000 raptors from 33 species throughout the western United States, Canada, and Scandinavia with an emphasis in California. Jeff is the Vice-President of Kidd Biological, Inc, a small consulting firm located in Murrieta, CA that focuses on research and management of raptors and various endangered species. Jeff is currently conducting research on Rough-legged Hawks throughout North America, Peregrine Falcons in coastal northern California and in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Northern Harriers along southern California coastal zones and Burrowing Owls statewide to name a few.

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Paul Kirk

Paul Kirk is the Programs Manager for the Northern California Regional Land Trust and has a Master's Degree in Botany. Paul taught public school for 12 years and is passionate about environmental education. He has worked in natural resource management since 2003.

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Shelly Kirn

Shelly Kirn teaches conservation biology, ecology, evolution, and several other classes at CSU, Chico and is faculty co-advisor to the biology honor society (Omicron Theta Epsilon). Shelly has been birding for almost 25 years and enjoys traveling throughout the US (and occasionally beyond) to see birds and other wildlife.

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Jesse Klingler

Jesse Klingler wears many hats in the outdoor industry. He teaches fly fishing, guides fishing and hiking trips, and helps to run a fly fishing tool manufacturing company. He's also involved with land management and volunteers as a docent at Dye Creek Preserve.

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Mike and Kathy Landini

Mike and Kathy Landini own and manage the Divide Ranch with the help of their adult children Nicole and Tony. They are passionate about creating environments on both land that they own and land that they lease, which support the family and the cattle as well as the land and the wildlife. They also direct-sell their 100% Grass-Fed Beef at farmers' markets, including the Chico Certified Farmers' Market on Saturdays.

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Roger Lederer

Dr. Roger Lederer is Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences at California State University, Chico, whose expertise is ecology, science education, and ornithology. He has published over thirty scientific research papers and seven books, including Ecology and Field Biology, Amazing Birds (in seven languages), Birds of Bidwell Park, Latin for Bird Lovers, and Beaks, Bones, and Birdsongs.

Dr. Lederer has served as a consultant to governments, private organizations, and schools on environmental issues, and presented hundreds of public presentations to a wide variety of audiences. He has been consulted by BBC, National Geographic, National Public Radio, National Canadian Television, Guinness World Records, and many other organizations, publications, and individuals for his expertise on birds.

He is still active as a member of the local science fair board, maintaining his popular website, Ornithology.com, and exploring the world. He has traveled to 100 countries and has been a guest speaker and naturalist on several cruise lines across the world, speaking on ecology, natural history, and geology.

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Henry Lomeli

A lifetime outdoorsman, Henry Lomeli has been a wildlife biologist for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for 26 years, responsible for a big range of land in Northern California and often responding to animal control calls ranging from skunks to mountain lions. Twelve years ago, inspired to share his love of the outdoors with others, Henry founded Sacramento River Eco Tours, which takes curious customers on an educational tour down the Sacramento River and Eagle Creek Ranch Eco Tours, safari-style tours, in the beautiful foothills of Northern California. In 2017 he added Sutter Buttes Eco Tours. Henry has also been practicing his survival skills since he was young that he put to use during his appearance as the survival expert on an episode of the Discovery Channel show "Tethered" in 2014. Henry spends his summer on the river and as an actively engaged member of the California outdoor community!

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Noel Lopez

Noel Lopez is an avid outdoorsman and recreationist who graduated from CSU Chico in 2014 with a BS in Recreation Administration, having optioned in parks and natural resource management. He currently serves as a park interpretive specialist with California State Parks at Bidwell Mansion SHP and Sutter Buttes. His interests include the legacy left by the Bidwell's, environmental education, and Native American cultural and natural history. A member of California Waterfowl Association, bird season is a favorite time of the year.

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Jessica Lundberg

Jessica Lundberg is a member of the Lundberg family’s third generation, and as a Vice President in the company, oversees Human Resources, sustainability initiatives, business planning, and the Seed and Field Research Nursery departments. She holds a degree in Biology with a certificate in Plant Breeding and serves on multiple industry committees for rice, agriculture, and organic products.

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Laura Lush

Laura Lush is a life-long Yuba-Sutter resident, artist, high school teacher, nature enthusiast, and avid birder. She has been active with Middle Mountain/Sutter Buttes Regional Land Trust for over a dozen years, and is currently on the board of Middle Mountain Interpretive Hikes.

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Christine Mac Shane

Christine Mac Shane has been painting for over 40 years and teaching for more than 12. Her easy step-by-step guidance will have you painting in no time! Christine has been a muralist in the Northern California region for over 20 years and loves that the rich wildlife and landscapes provide such ongoing inspiration. Www.christinemacshane.com.

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Jan Martinez

Jan Martinez is a member of the Altacal Audubon and Plumas Audubon Societies and has taken part in the Oroville Christmas Bird Count and grebe counts on Lake Almanor. She enjoys hiking and birding in the Northstate and plans to expand her "birding horizons" in the future. Jan lives in the Oroville foothills and has identified over 40 species of birds that have visited her home.

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Charlie Mathews

Charlie Mathews and his family have been farmers in the area north of Marysville for multiple generations. He and family members are leaders in the rice industry and waterfowl conservation.

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John "Mac" McCormick

John "Mac" McCormick is a retired high school biology teacher of 37 years and has been an avid birder since the 1970s. He is the former co-director of the San Francisco State University (SFSU) Sierra Nevada Field Station Bird Banding Program. Mac has literally handled thousands of birds during the seventeen summers he spent banding. This intimate contact with birds in hand has given Mac insights to identification tips not always mentioned in field guides. Since his retirement in 2000, he has traveled the world bird watching in such exotic places such as the Peruvian Amazon Basin, Brazil, Central America, Australia, and Japan.

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John Meserve

Is a professional Consulting Arborist and Horticulturist working throughout Northern California. He is Tree Risk Assessment Qualified and Certified by the International Society of Arboriculture, as well as being a member of the American Society of Consulting Arborists. Besides being a full time consultant he has worked as an adjunct instructor at U.C. Berkeley teaching horticulture and plant identification to Landscape Architecture students in the School of Environmental Design, as well as teaching Landscape Management in the U.C. Berkeley Cooperative Extension program. Meserve considers himself a tree and plant enthusiast, spending much free time in his garden and landscaped property, and helping others in theirs. New to birding, he is excited to share his extensive knowledge of the tree world with those that study and focus on the birds that live there. He looks forward to turning 'that tree' into something identifiable and known to participating birders.

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Mary Muchowski

Mary Muchowski has worked as a wildlife technician/biologist since 1988 with the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. She has lived in the Chico area since 1983, and really enjoys the bird-life of the area, especially in the winter!

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Gary Nielsen

Gary Nielsen has birded for more than 40 years in Butte county and beyond. A particular love are birds of open horizons, be they raptors or seabirds. Since retiring from teaching in 2007, he has spent more than a year in the seabird colonies of the NW Hawaiian Islands, including 11 months on Midway, among the 2 million Albatross.

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Michelle Ocken

Michelle Ocken is a graduate student at CSU, Chico where she is working on her Master's degree in biology while studying Western Burrowing Owls. She is the founder and President of the Chico State Birding Club and is a member of Altacal Audubon Society. She also volunteers throughout the year banding Northern Saw-whet Owls and passerines.

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Joseph O'Neil

Joseph O'Neil is a Certified Arborist with over 30 years of experience in the tree and nursery field, working at Mendon's Nursery in Paradise for 9 years and currently as a consulting arborist. He has an Art degree from CSU Chico and has traveled the North State extensively. He's been birding since 2003 and loves sharing his knowledge regarding tree resources for birds.

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Bre Owens

Bre Owens, Chair of the CA Working Circle Council, is part of a coordinated effort supported by ranchers in Northern California, the California Wolf Center, and state and federal agencies to implement a variety of tools to reduce the potential for conflict between wolves and livestock. She raises cattle and sheep, in addition to being the Coordinator for the Rangeland Watershed Initiative at Point Blue Conservation Science, which is a partnership program with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Bre grew up in Butte County and loves to work with collaboratively-minded diverse groups to implement viable, effective working lands conservation that supports both rural and urban communities.

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Owl Monitoring Team

Bio to be provided soon.

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Ruth Paz

Ruth Paz is a member of Altacal Audubon Society and enjoys the monthly meetings and presentations. The summer camping trips with Audubon are great fun. When birding in Lassen Volcanic National Park on some of these trips, she enjoys seeing birds that don't come to her back yard. Ruth has been birding for over 20 years.

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Victor Paz

Victor Paz was a member of the Central Sierra Audubon Society in Sonora, CA for 20 years. He has recently moved to Tehama County and is now a member of the Altacal Audubon Society.

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Sharon Perry

Sharon Perry has worked as an environmental educator. She is currently the chair of the Nature Sounds Society.

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Mike Peters

Mike Peters has been the Wildlife Refuge Manager for Colusa and Sutter National Wildlife Refuges (NWR), part of the Sacramento NWR Complex, since 1999. Prior to that he was a wildlife biologist at the San Luis NWR Complex from 1992 through 1999. Mike enjoys providing quality habitat for wildlife and providing refuge visitors high quality recreational opportunities.

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Michael Rogner

Michael Rogner is a riparian ecologist for River Partners and has worked on the Sacramento River since 2003. He has designed and implemented over 2,000 acres of riparian restoration projects throughout California and Nevada.

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Shane Romain

Shane Romain is passionate about the outdoors and outdoor education. He was the Supervising Park Ranger for the City of Chico for the past nine years and is now the Park Services Coordinator. He teaches Parks and Natural Resources Management at CSUC and is the Coordinator of the Outdoor Education program at Rancho Esquon. Since he created the program at Rancho Esquon in 2008, over 7,000 students have been able to experience the wonder of our wetlands thanks to the generosity of the Hofmann Foundation and the Community Youth Center.

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Marilyn Rose

Marilyn Rose is the owner of Out of This World - Discount Binoculars located in Mendocino, CA.

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Craig Roth

As a lifelong outdoor enthusiast and a career working for Sonoma County Parks, City Parks, and Youth Conservation crews, Craig Roth is committed to help conserve the land and waters of Northern California. He is a member of Redwood Regional Ornithological Society and Audubon. He participates in monthly bird surveys for many organizations including Petaluma Wetlands Alliance, Sonoma County Parks, Sonoma Land Trust, and Christmas Bird Counts. Additionally he is a valued volunteer on many Sonoma Land Trust conservation projects. Craig continues to explore, share and marvel at the wonders of the avian world and other natural encounters.

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David Samuels

David Samuels is a retired middle school teacher who now enjoys spending part of his summers volunteering in our National Parks as an Astro VIP - Astronomy Volunteer in the Parks. He has presented solar viewing, star parties, and astronomy outreach programs in parks located in California, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Maine.

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Peter Sands

Peter Sands is one of the landowners of the Dean Ranch in the Sutter Buttes. He is a naturalist for the Middle Mountain Interpretive Hikes and an enthusiastic ornithologist. He has been the compiler of the Peace Valley Christmas bird count since 1990.

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Ron & Nancy Sanford

Ron & Nancy Sanford have worked as professional travel & wildlife photographers since 1978. They've traveled the world producing images for a host of magazines, books and calendars, including National Geographic, Audubon, Time, Gourmet, Life, and dozens more.

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Miguette Sansegundo

Miguette Sansegundo is a life long professional gardener who moved to Chico ten years ago from Long Island, NY. The change in climate and vegetation type has been a fascination for her. Working first at the local native plant nursery to get her bearings and later exploring the area on her own, she has come to know the native flora in the area as well as that of her former seaside home. She is particularly happy to be birding in such a choice and special location.

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Birder, John Seid

John Seid taught elementary school children for 35 years and made it a point to teach them about the wonders of our natural world and our place in this amazing world. Since we live in the Pacific Flyway, many units were done around birds that migrate here and also our local ones. John believes that if you know the name of something it brings you closer. He is an avid photographer, and you can find him all summer kayaking with his faithful dog and all winter at the refuges around us—with Lucy the dog also.

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Christy Sherr

Christy Sherr is a retired National and State Park Ranger, currently working as a field biologist and Education Coordinator with Earth Island Institute's John Muir Project. A past president of Sierra Foothills Audubon, she watched her eleven year old daughter became a birder in a snag forest!

christysherr@johnmuirproject.org

www.johnmuirproject.org

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Joe Silveira

Joe Silveira is currently the Wildlife Refuge Manager for the Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge and the North Central Valley Wildlife Management Area--Llano Seco Unit. He has served as a Wildlife Biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since 1990 and has been stationed at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex since 1992, where he works on habitat restoration and management programs involving the ecology and conservation of riparian floodplains, vernal pool landscapes, grasslands, and managed freshwater wetlands.

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Bill Smith

Bill Smith is a retired Professional Forester who has resided in in Chico since 1975. He has a BS in Forest Management from Michigan Technological University and retired as the "Forest Silviculturist" from the Plumas National Forest in 2010. His forte in the Forest Service was large reforestation project logistics and Service Contract Administration. Notable accomplishments include serving on the Bidwell Park Commission, securing the three acre "Blue Oak Reserve" within Hillview Terrace Subdivision, and spearheadimg the design and build-out of Baroni Park, a Chico Neighborhood Park.

Bill leads a Chico Meetup Hiking Group and stays active in Community affairs. Currently, Bill is a docent at the Abbey of Our Lady of New Clairvaux, in Vina, Ca., where he leads tours. The Abbey is home to 25 Trappist monks, and the property played an important role in California history.

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Lorraine Smith

Lorraine Smith grew up in rural Northern California. She went on her first camping trip at age 7 months, and has taken every opportunity to get outdoors ever since. After enjoying a career in higher education, Lorraine is thrilled to have more time now to pursue her love of all things outdoors - hiking, birding, camping, kayaking, and learning something new every day about the natural world. Since retiring, Lorraine has guided nature walks, and hiking and backpacking adventures, with an emphasis on amateur birding and botanizing. Recently she has lead hiking and camping outings with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at CSU, Chico.

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Lise Smith-Peters (Friends of Bidwell Park)

Lise Smith-Peters is Development Director for the College of Behavioral and Social Science at California State University, Chico. Prior to joining Chico State, Lise served the City of Chico Park Division for nine years as Park Services Coordinator/Volunteer Coordinator, which involved establishing a pro-active park volunteer program, grant writing and development efforts for Bidwell Park and serving as staff liaison to the Bidwell Park and Playground Commission. She is now on the Board of Friends of Bidwell Park and still leads volunteer sessions in the Park.

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Ken Sobon

Ken Sobon is an avid birder, field trip leader, and Vice President of Altacal Audubon Society. He has worked the last 5 seasons volunteering and assisting and is now the Director of the Northern Saw-whet Owl fall migration monitoring project. In addition Ken has been a science teacher to middle school students in Oroville since 1995. He has shared his love of science and birding with his students both in the classroom and in field.

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Bob Solari

Bob Solari has been carving and sculpturing birds from wood since 1975. He has won numerous first place awards in carving competitions, and his work has been displayed in museums and galleries. An Honorary Life Member of the Pacific Flyway Decoy Association, he instructs in the Association seminars, is an active competitor, and is a judge in their annual wildlife art show.

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Ranger Matt Stalter

Matthew Stalter has been a Ranger with California State Parks since 2010. Over the years he has had the opportunity to work at a variety of parks, including Castle Rock State Park, Portola Redwoods State Park, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, and Lake Oroville State Recreation Area. In June 2015 he transferred to the Northern Buttes District, he now works out of the Bidwell-Sacramento River State Park office.

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Marty Steidlmayer

Marty Steidlemayer is a Sutter Buttes landowner and rancher. Marty has an intimate knowledge of the Sutter Buttes landscapes.

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The Center for Reconnecting with Nature

The mission of The Center For Re-Connecting With Nature (CRWN) is to create pathways for all people, especially youth, to fall in love with nature. Creating positive relationships with the natural world allows physical, emotional and spiritual balance. CRWN promotes learning by having fun in nature, which counteracts the alienation caused by the indoor, virtual and urban worlds.

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Richard Thieriot

Dick Thieriot is a decendent of John & Abby Parrott who purchased Llano Seco Rancho in the 1860s. He is co-owner of Llano Seco Ranch, where he has implemented diverse riparian, freshwater wetland, ranching and farming conservation practices.

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Fred Thomas

Fred Thomas grew up locally in the Live Oak area climbing the Sutter Buttes and has always felt at home when they are within sight. After graduating from CSU, Chico with a degree in Agriculture, he farmed for five years before becoming a regional farm seed manager, travelling throughout Northern California for fifteen years. In 1995 he started CERUS Consulting, and over the next twenty years, he specialized in cover crop and California native grass establishment, farm management, pest control advising, and project management on a number of pesticide reduction programs. Project management of the Going Organic Project, which CERUS Consulting spearheaded for the California Certified Organic Farmers Foundation from 2005 - 2010, converted 55 different farms to an organic production track, resulting in over 4,500 acres practicing 'clean water' organic production in the Central Valley and North Coast. Fred has been a regular birder since farming in the mid 1970's, and he is a rock hound and lapidary enthusiast often finding agates, petrified wood, and fossils along the Sacramento River and throughout the wild lands.

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Scott Thomas

Scott Thomas is a raptor biologist and project manager for Kidd Biological, Inc, a small consulting firm located in southwestern California. Scott maintains state and federal permits authorizing capture and take of various threatened and endangered species ranging from California Gnatcatchers to Golden Eagles. Since 1985 Scott has concentrated his efforts in raptor research and banded approximately 5,000 nestling and adult raptors throughout the western U.S. and Scandinavia with an emphasis in northern and southern California.

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Andy Tomaselli

Andy Tomaselli is an avid outdoor enthusiast, having spent his young adult life working and living in Yosemite National Park where he first became curious about natural history. He is a self-taught naturalist, learning most of the flora and fauna of California from field guides. Andy enjoys fly fishing, backcountry skiing and has spent many years helping with local Christmas Bird Counts. Andy refers to himself as a "smart alecky laymen" and likes to call his self-taught natural history a "burden of knowledge" that he is more than happy to unload on anyone who asks. He has resided in Chico for over 25 years and has explored the Northstate extensively; especially obscure out of the way locations. When not birding or botanizing with his lovely wife, he likes to pursue his creative side playing and singing American standards on the ukulele.

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Scott Torricelli

Scott Torricelli has been an environmental educator and classroom teacher for over 30 years. He is currently bringing "nature into the classroom" as a 5th and 6th grade teacher for the Oroville Elementary School district. He has worked as naturalist for the Yosemite and Headlands Institutes, Slide Ranch Environmental School, The Chico Creek Nature Center, The Audubon Society, Elder Hostel, and the National Park Service.

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Pamela Waldsmith

Pamela Waldsmith enjoys a variety of interests: birding; hiking; yoga; kayaking; painting; travel; local, national, and world affairs; reading; pickleball; and photography. As an educator of thirty-five years, she most enjoyed teaching science and expanding her young students' educational experience through field trips. Fueled by her passion for science, she coached her students for the annual Nature Bowl, a fun environmental competition, with her students often placing very high in the final state competition. Since her retirement, she misses the youngsters yet has had more time to pursue her many interests, and she continues learning every day in new ways.

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Bruce Webb, Swarovski Optik Field Tech

When Bruce Webb was a student at Chico State, he worked with Tim Manolis to write the "Annotated List of Birds of Butte County." Currently, he is California's Field Technician for Swarovski Optik.

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Greg Weddig

Greg Weddig has been recording and documenting natural soundscapes since 2003. He is a member of the Nature Sounds Society, a founding member of the Maryland Nature Recordists, and has taught field recording and editing classes. Greg is currently a volunteer recordist for Lassen Volcanic National Park.

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Carrie Wendt

Carrie Wendt is a Partner Biologist for Point Blue Conservation Science and Natural Resources Conservation Science (NRCS) where she works with private land owners to conserve and improve wildlife habitat on local farms and ranches. Before moving to Chico, Carrie attended graduate school at Humboldt State University studying barn owls in Napa Valley vineyards. She has researched birds all over the western US, China and Kenya.

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West Coast Falconry

Licensed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, West Coast Falconry is the premiere Northern California resource for a full range of hands-on Falconry classes and services. Owner and Master Falconer, Kate Marden, invites you to join her and the staff at the West Coast Falconry Center to get a glimpse inside this incredible and ancient hunting tradition. Our classes and experiences are for falconers and non-falconers alike where you can actually work hands-on with our birds of prey. Our birds of prey have been featured in videos and on shows such as Mythbusters, Showdown of the Unbeatables for Nat Geo, KQED, Wreakreation Nation on the Discovery Channel, Unchained Reaction, Mancations on the Travel Channel, and Methods of Take.

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Scotty Weston

Scotty Weston is the Operations Manager for the Olive City Agriculture and Nature Center.

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Dale Whitmore

Dale Whitmore was a wildlife biologist for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for 37 years. He retired in 2014 and continues to lead wildlife projects with youth organizations and the public on both public and private lands in the Marysville-Yuba City area. He can be contacted at 530 635-0046.

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John Whittlesey

John Whittlesey owns Canyon Creek Nursery & Design. He has served as the horticulture chairperson for the Mount Lassen Chapter of the California Native Plant Society and is a graduate of the California School of Garden Design. His book, The Plant Lover's Guide to Salvias, published by Timber Press, was released in the spring of 2014. John is passionate about changing the way we garden to provide more habitat for birds, pollinators and all forms of wildlife.

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Lisa Winslow

Lisa has a life long love for birds, wildlife and nature. She has been a School Counselor for many years in the Chico community. She often spends her weekends out birding and hiking and is a member of the local Altacal Audubon Society. One of her favorite hot spots in the Chico area is the Oxidation Ponds.

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Lindsay Wood

Lindsay Wood has lead ecotours and backcountry trips throughout the Northstate for the past 13 years. A wildlife ecologist by training, Lindsay has conducted fisheries, avian, and herptile research throughout the Sacramento River Watershed. Lindsay comes to us with a strong background in conservation ecology, outdoor education, and water policy. Lindsay graduated from Chico State's Biological Science program after spending her undergraduate years leading the Hands on Science Lab, surveying the Western Pond Turtle, and studying rainforest conservation at her (other) beloved alma mater, the Universidad de Costa Rica. As a biologist for various studies and projects, Lindsay has been involved with several species level conservation studies including the Greater Sage Grouse, Aechmophorus grebes, Steelhead, Chinook salmon. She currently serves on the Butte County Forest Advisory Committee representing the watersheds of Plumas and Lassen National Forests.

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Julie Woodruff

Julie Woodruff is a biologist living in Benicia, California, specializing in biological consulting. Her specialties include bird and amphibian surveys and construction compliance monitoring. She runs the Napa-Solano Audubon Northern Saw-whet Owl banding station in Napa County, California. Her hobbies include running and hiking with her dog.

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Rick Wulbern

Rick Wulbern started birding in 2004. Since then he has birded in Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Hawaii, and Northern California. Joining Altacal in 2005, he has enjoyed going on many of their field trips and gaining knowledge from other birders. He looks forward to sharing what he has learned.

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Dawit Zeleke

Dawit Zeleke is the Associate Director Conservation and Agriculture for The Nature Conservancy. He was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and immigrated to the United States in 1976. He arrived at Oakwood as a freshman and graduated with the Class of 1981. Dawit earned his B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Friends World College in Huntington, New York.

Dawit has worked for The Nature Conservancy for the last 25 years. He is responsible for setting strategic vision and fundraising for projects, from a variety of private and public sources, for a conservation region that includes forests in the Sierra Nevada, river systems in Northern and Central California, and more than 100,000 acres of agricultural and rangeland properties throughout California. Dawit has a passion for managing people and working with teams. With over 20 years of agriculture, habitat management, and habitat restoration experience, Dawit serves as an internal resource to conservation programs and initiatives. As a graduate of the California Agricultural Leadership Program and chair of the U.C. Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Dean's Advisory Board, Dawit manages high-level relationships within California's agriculture community and industry.

Dawit and his wife Cori own and operate Capay Satsuma Mandarins, a certified organic orchard. Dawit enjoys international travel, especially to Eastern and Southern Africa, and he is an avid flyfisher.

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