Friends of the Festival include our generous event sponsors, guides, and volunteers who are vital to the festival’s success and whose support is critical to our mission to protect and sustain the unique lands, waters, and biodiversity of West Marin.

Please be sure to thank them in the field!

Are you an experienced naturalist, birder, or expert in your field and want to join our team? Contact us for more info.

Bob Atwood has his M.S. in Biology and has conducted ecological field research in Mexico along with conservation genetics and bioinformatics research. Bob is a county birder and enjoys searching out rarities and uncommon birds throughout California.

Sharon Barnett is co-owner of Marin Nature Adventures, a science teacher at Marin Country Day School, a hiking instructor for the College of Marin, and one of Marin’s most dynamic interpretive naturalists. Known as Sharon Heron, she gets children and adults excited about nature. Sharon is the 2011 Terwilliger Environmental Award winner for excellence in environmental education. Over the years, she has volunteered with many organizations and most recently founded California Toad Crew.

Frank Binney is a professional interpretive planner who has helped enhance visitor experiences at Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, Mount St. Helens, the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, and numerous California State Parks. He is the author of Point Reyes and the San Andreas Fault Zone: The Aerial Photography of Robert Campbell. In 2004, he was named Volunteer of the Year, Pacific West Region of the National Park Service, for his pro bono help in assisting National Seashore biologists with Tule Elk and Snowy Plover studies. 

Janet Bodle is a Marin County birder who has recorded over 356 species in Marin County. She has had a life-long interest in nature and has enjoyed volunteering as a docent at the California Academy of Science, the Marin Foothill Yellow-legged Frog Program, and the Audubon Canyon Ranch Heron and Egret Project. She has completed the Master Birder program through the California Academy of Science.

Heather Cameron has enjoyed a lifelong passion for birds. She has birded extensively around Marin over the past 28 years and has a special affinity for birding at Point Reyes.  She is a long-time member of Point Blue Conservation Science, and the Environmental Action Committee of West Marin, a volunteer block leader for the Marin Breeding Bird Atlas, and a dedicated participant and area leader for the Point Reyes and other local Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs).

Scott Carey is an avid birder, and he has guided local birdwatching trips in Marin and Sonoma counties, as well as some further afield in Humboldt County and Arizona. When Scott is not out birdwatching, he has participated in several bird surveys, as well as volunteered for the Marin Breeding Bird Atlas. He currently conducts shorebird and Marbled Murrelet surveys for Avocet Research.

Rich Cimino has been birding Northern California for 52 years where he has recorded 386 species in Marin County and over 500 species in California. He is inspired by adventure, finding new birding areas, by birding his local patch in Larkspur, leading Yellowbilled Tours birding field trips, and having fun along the way. He appreciates the value birding brings to our life and he believes that birding locally is a perfect way to begin birding. He is an active field trip leader for Marin Audubon, other citizen science interests are, butterfly habitat, conservation, photography, sustainable-organic gardening, and his small-venue birding www.Yellowbilled Tours.com with annual tours in North America from Alaska to Columbia.

Natalie Clark is a lifelong resident of Marin County and a former elementary school teacher. Currently, Natalie leads naturalist hikes through the Community Education Program at the College of Marin and teaches nature classes for children. Natalie finds joy in sharing her knowledge and feels that there is always something new to discover and learn from our natural world.  

Catie Clune is the Director of Education at Audubon Canyon Ranch. She is an experienced naturalist and science educator, who has a passion for building more inclusive outdoor spaces. She has spent many years managing education and outreach programs in West Marin on topics including endangered salmon, redwoods and climate change, and marine conservation. She has taught the UC California Naturalist Certification course and led professional development workshops for science teachers. Catie holds a master's degree in science education from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree in community studies, with a focus on environmental justice, from UC Santa Cruz. She is a board member of LandPaths in Sonoma County.

Emiko Condeso is an ecologist and GIS specialist for Audubon Canyon Ranch (ACR). At the Cypress Grove Research Center, she manages ACR’s long-term biological monitoring projects and collaborates with staff and partners in conservation research. Her research interests include understanding how spatial patterns, particularly in human-altered landscapes, influence biological communities.

Paul da Silva | Bilingual Speaker in Portuguese, Spanish and some Cantonese is a Marin ecologist, educator, and environmentalist. He holds a B.A. in biology, an M.S. in resource management, and a Ph.D. in entomology. He taught biology, natural history, environmental science, and environmental landscaping at the College of Marin for 23 years. During that time he led the Abbotts Lagoon Entomofaunal Survey in collaboration with the National Park Service at Point Reyes National Seashore. He is especially interested in the relationships among different organisms in communities, between humans, and in our environment.

Jason Deschler is a founding member of the Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin, comprised of verified descendants of the first human inhabitants of present-day Marin County, and serves as educational director and cultural advisor to the Council’s Indigenous non-profit administrative arm, Huukuiko, Inc. A Dance Captain, Fire Keeper, and Headman of Sah-tah-ko (present-day San Geronimo Valley), Jason has studied with traditional elders since he was a teenager and traces his primary Ancestral ties to the villages of Etcha Kolum (Tomales Bay) and Etcha Tamal (Nicasio).

Mark Dettling is an avian ecologist with Point Blue Conservation Science. He is one of the supervisors and trainers for the bird banding interns at the Palomarin Field Station located at the south end of Point Reyes National Seashore. He is passionate about conservation and spends much of his free time birding in the Point Reyes area and abroad (when that's possible!). His passion for birds and birding started in his home state of Michigan, where he graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. After realizing his true calling was more in the natural sciences, he completed a Master’s Degree program in Natural Resources at Cornell University. His experience includes studying Least Bell’s Vireos along the San Joaquin River, wintering songbirds in the Central Valley, and Western Yellow-Billed Cuckoos along the Sacramento River. He has co-authored several scientific papers and often presents at scientific conferences.

John Dell’Osso | Bilingual Italian Speaker is a retired National Park Service Ranger who spent most of his 36-year career at Point Reyes National Seashore where he served as the Chief of Interpretation and Public Information Officer. John has been birding since he was a young teenager. He has since been to every corner of the U.S. to bird, including multiple trips to Canada. He has led countless bird walks for the public and brought the Christmas Bird Count 4 Kids to Point Reyes National Seashore. He is the Vice Chair of the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation in Sonoma County.

Wesley Eagle-Gibbs is a naturalist, writer, and fine woodworker. Through his writing and teaching, he highlights the value of nature as a tool for mental health in our increasingly disconnected and screen-addicted lifestyles. He has more than a decade of experience observing the animals in northern California and has backpacked within all the western United States, as well as some areas in the south. He has also spent time in South Africa, where he lived beside and apprenticed with, anti-poaching tracker and dog trainer, Colin Patrick. 

Daniel Edelstein is a freelance Consulting Biologist and Certified Wildlife Biologist Asc. who has led birding tours for more than 25 years and presented public birding presentations in more than 20 states, including an upcoming week-long San Francisco State University “Birding By Ear In The Sierra.” Daniel’s website — warblerwatch.com — hosts several birding handouts (via the “Birding Links” pulldown menu) and his warbler-centric blog — warblerwatch.blogspot.com — has hosted warbler articles and photo quizzes since 2007. He has also taught diverse adult birding classes since 2003 at Merritt College in Oakland, CA, and for Point Reyes National Seashore Association, Marin Audubon, and Golden Gate Bird Alliance.

Amy Faulkner is a nature-based educator with 30 years of teaching experience with elementary-aged children. As a Marin native, she has walked the trails of Marin for decades and now leads nature walks for children and adults to explore the flora and fauna our county. Her goal is to bring wonder and joy to the outdoor world with small groups, families, and friends in a way that is both educational and playful.

Renee Fittinghoff | Bilingual French Speaker is a member of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) Marin County Chapter field trip team and tends her site-appropriate, wildlife-friendly, California native plant garden. Her interest in California native wildflowers was first sparked by hikes in the central Sierra Nevada. Later, she studied landscape horticulture and volunteered at the East Bay CNPS and GGNRA nurseries. More recently, she has served as the Gardening with Natives Chair on the Marin CNPS board.

Tom Gaman is a California registered Professional Forester (#1776), and forestry consultant since 1978. He has provided technical forestry advice and support for many agencies including private landowners, the State of California, and all its 18 national forests, including a detailed forest inventory for Tomales Bay State Park. Tom's focus areas are forest planning and management, inventory, oak woodlands, wildlife habitat, urban forests, fire, and forest carbon.  He has worked with the local community to develop a fuel break between Inverness and Tomales Bay State Park. He is a former EAC board member who spearheaded the Phoenix Team that published the report, After the Vision Fire,  in 1996.

Juan Pablo Galván Martínez | Bilingual Spanish Speaker is a professional conservationist who has lived and worked in different parts of California, Mexico, Costa Rica, and the East Coast. He loves being able to have a career focused on studying, protecting, and restoring wildlife and nature. Even before he graduated from UC San Diego with a BS in Ecology/Behavior and Evolution, he was already engaged in bird research and conservation. Receiving an MS in Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology from the University of Maryland College Park increased his opportunities. Some of his bird-specific experience includes: studying the effects of rice cultivation on waterbirds in the Americas, surveying birds in the coffee plantations of Chiapas, determining the reproductive success of coastal sage scrub birds in San Diego, and helping to protect the nesting birds of Isla Alcatraz in the Gulf of California. When he is not working as the Senior Land Use Manager of Save Mount Diablo, he volunteers as the Conservation Chair of the Mount Diablo Audubon Society, hikes and birds the Mount Diablo region, contributes data as a certified California Naturalist, assists conservation efforts in Mexico and tries to apply what he’s learned as a certified California Climate Steward.

Keith Hansen is a birder and wildlife artist in Bolinas, Marin County, California, specializing in bird illustrations with scientific accuracy. He has created illustrations for various organizations to adorn or enhance publications that have included books, scientific journals, magazines, newsletters, and logos; as well as designed murals, taught classes, and displayed at numerous art shows and Bird Symposiums. After illustrating over a dozen of books, he illustrated, Birds of the Sierra Nevada: Their Natural History, Status, and Distribution, authored by Ted Beedy and Ed Pandolfino for the Yosemite Association; and recently completed a 22-year project illustrating 320 species in, Hansen’s Field Guide to the Birds of the Sierra Nevada. His newest book, Birds of Point Reyes, will be released in June 2023. It invites readers to imagine the world’s fastest hunt through the eyes of a cliff-dwelling peregrine, to appreciate the evolutionary complexity of the shorebird beaks prodding the sands of Drakes Bay, and to attune to the serenade of birdsong. Additionally, he and his wife Patricia Briceño lead birding tours to Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, and the Yucatan. His workspace, The Wildlife Gallery is located in Bolinas, California (behind the Bolinas Museum) where people are welcome to visit the studio and view various works he has on display or for sale.

Luanna Helfman is a long-time festival volunteer and Marin County birder who has studied birdsong with mentors Bob Stewart, Howard Williams, and the late Rich Stallcup. She has led birdsong walks for Marin Audubon for over 25 years and enjoys helping others discover birds by sound. She has over 30 years of experience working in local nurseries and is knowledgeable about the area's flora.

Alan Hopkins has been leading bird walks for over 40 years and is a naturalist with the Oceanic Society. He has been published in 100 Birds of Heron’s Head; A Birder’s Guide to Metropolitan Areas of North America; San Francisco Peninsula Birdwatching; Images of America’s, San Francisco: A Natural History; and Ocean Birds of the Nearshore Pacific and in periodicals such as American Birds, Bay Nature, Birding, California Wild, and Western Birds. He was awarded the Shipyard Trust for The Arts Artist in Residence in 2010, received the Crissy Field Center’s Community Hero Award in 2004, and the Elsie Roemer Conservation Award in 1996. He was a founder of the San Francisco Christmas Bird Count and has participated in the Point Reyes Christmas Bird Count for over 30 years. His experience includes acting president of Golden Gate Bird Alliance (formerly the Golden Gate Audubon Society) from 1998 to 2000; Naturalist in Residence for the Shipyard Trust for the Arts at the Hunters Point Shipyard, San Francisco; teacher for the Kids In Parks program at McLaren Park and San Francisco Nature Education at Heron’s Head Park; and as a monitor for NOAA’s Cordell Bank Ocean Monitoring Program. 

Lisa Hug is a biologist and freelance naturalist specializing in Marin and Sonoma counties, especially around Point Reyes National Seashore and Bodega Bay. She is an experienced birder in the North Bay whose frequent haunts include Bolinas Lagoon, Point Reyes National Seashore, and Bodega Bay. She teaches bird identification classes for the Community Education Program at the College of Marin. Her latest pursuit is starting a birding program for youth that have a special interest in birds. This group has become known locally as Y.A.M.S. (Young Ancient Murrelets) and is a chapter of the Redwood Region Ornithological Society. She loves to share her knowledge of and enthusiasm for the natural world with others. Her former experience includes working for the National Park Service as an Interpretive Ranger for Point Reyes National Seashore, as a research assistant with Point Reyes Bird Observatory (now known as Point Blue Conservation Science), and as a research assistant for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. She was the former president of the Redwood Regional Ornithological Society for two years.

John Karachewski has conducted geology and environmental projects throughout the western US from Colorado to Alaska to Midway Island and throughout California. He leads numerous geology field trips for the Point Reyes Field Institute, the Environmental Action Committee of West Marin, and other educational organizations. Doris Sloan and John collaborated on a popular book about the Geology of the San Francisco Bay Region.

Susan Kelly is a volunteer coordinator for the Marin Breeding Bird Atlas II and a block leader for two blocks. One block includes the Las Gallinas Sanitary District ponds, where she started birding about 20 years ago. Susan is the organizer and compiler of Cheep Thrills, one of the three Christmas Bird Counts in Marin County. She is a long-time volunteer for the Greater Farallones Association's Beach Watch program and previously served as a board member of the Western Field Ornithologists.

Sarah Killingsworth is an EAC board member, California Naturalist, wildlife conservation photographer and filmmaker (@skwildlifephotos), and the Keeping it Wild Youth Education and Outreach Program Coordinator for Project Coyote. She has volunteered with several nonprofit organizations, including in WildCare’s bird room. Sarah’s photography has been featured in local and national media, in print and online. She is passionate about sharing the magic of our wilderness areas with children, both by bringing the wild into classrooms and by getting our youth outdoors, to learn about their environment.

Dave LaCasse is a lifelong birder and naturalist. His travels have taken him to many points in North and South America and Canada. Dave leads public bird walks for the City of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County Regional Parks.

Liz Lewis | Bilingual Spanish Speaker became a Project Coordinator for the Marin Breeding Bird Atlas II in January 2023. She has a background in wildlife ecology and has served as a survey leader to the 2nd Breeding Bird Atlas since 2021 covering blocks in China Camp State Park, McNear’s Park, the town of Tomales, and several of Marin County’s coastal communities (West Marin).  She has been exploring the birds of Marin since 1995 when she moved here from Miami, FL. 

Mark Lipman has a long history of producing and directing social issue documentary films, and over the last five years has refocused his attention on the natural world. First drawn to this work by the sound of hundreds of snow geese rising up together, he has become deeply involved with nature sound recording, and serves on the board of the Nature Sounds Society, an organization dedicated to the preservation, appreciation, and creative use of natural sounds. He is currently leading a soundscape mapping project in collaboration with the Point Reyes National Seashore Association and the National Park Service at Point Reyes National Seashore.

Carolyn Longstreth is a former Board Director of the Environmental Action Committee of West Marin (EAC), and a co-founder of our Point Reyes Birding & Nature Festival. She currently serves on the board of the California Native Plant Society Marin County Chapter. She is an avid birder and the creator of the EAC's Birding by Ear at Point Reyes 2-CD set. She taught classes on birdsong at an Audubon Center in Connecticut and past festivals.

David Lumpkin | Bilingual German Speaker is an avian ecologist working at Audubon Canyon Ranch. He is involved in several research programs, including radio tracking Dunlin, monitoring heron and egret colonies, surveying shorebirds and waterbirds, and conducting breeding bird surveys. He has worked with various bird species around North America, mostly centering on population monitoring and conservation work.

Dave MacKenzie is a naturalist who has been birding since he was 12. As an engineering consultant, he has traveled widely, searching out birds in many areas, although his favorite patch is near his home in Muir Beach, CA. He has monitored Northern Spotted Owls in Marin County, developed a bird list of the Redwood Creek watershed (including Muir Woods) for the National Park Service, and conducted research for the River Otter Ecology Project. Dave loves everything natural and also enjoys flyfishing, kayaking, mountain biking, wildlife tracking, and camping with his grandchildren. His current project, the Baccharis Institute, studies modern evolutionary biology.

Liz Martins brings her passion for connecting people to wildlife through the Living with Lions education program, a conservation research project and program between Audubon Canyon Ranch and True Wild that teaches children about our wild neighbors and the valuable role mountain lions play in the ecosystem. Liz draws on her experience as an environmental educator in South Africa, where she set up and ran the Cape Leopard Trust's Education Project. Liz was previously a Waldorf teacher and has a degree in Anthropology and Archaeology. She has been a docent at Audubon Canyon Ranch's Bouverie Preserve since 2016. She is also Managing Partner with her husband, Quinton Martins, at True Wild, their conservation and safari company.  

Dr. Jerry Meral is an Environmental Action Committee of West Marin Board Member and co-chair of the Point Reyes Birding & Nature Festival. He studied newts at Penn State University and was formerly a staff scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund, Deputy Director of the California Department of Water Resources, Executive Director of the Planning and Conservation League, and Deputy Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency.

Eddie Monson | Bilingual Spanish Speaker of San Francisco is the current President of the California Young Birders Club - Bay Area Chapter since 2021. For the last two years, Eddie has been researching birds as part of the Marin Breeding Bird Atlas. His passion for birdwatching started at seven years old and continues through engagement and participation in various festivals, outings, and collaboration with other young birders.

Joe Mueller has been teaching biology at the College of Marin for 30 years and is the coordinator for the Natural History Program. Of the 15 different courses he has taught, subjects of particular interest include ecology, marine biology, ornithology, and environmental science. Taking a holistic approach to science, Joe emphasizes the inter-connective approach to understanding biology. He is the recipient of the 2008 Terwilliger Environmental Award.

Nicole Myers is a geologist and teacher. Nicole currently teaches at Sonoma State University in the Geology Department offering popular classes such as Age of the Dinosaurs, Natural Disasters, and Geology of Climate Change. She also teaches summer EXCEL classes for kids through SSU including Extreme Planet and The Age of the Dinosaurs and spent ten years leading geology field classes through the College of Marin. Nicole brings her enthusiasm for Earth appreciation to the community through earth science field explorations of Northern California offered through www.appreciatingearth.com.

Beatrice Pezzolo is a festival guide-in-training and an esteemed birdwatcher who loves exploring Sonoma and Marin Counties. She is currently enrolled as a senior at Maria Carrillo High School, and over the years, she has gained quite a repertoire of bird knowledge. Specifically, she has been a part of many nature-related organizations, such as Redwood Region Ornithological Society's "YAMS," the Pepperwood Preserve "TeenNat" summer program, volunteering at the Santa Rosa Bird Rescue Center for many years, and the over-the-summer Conservation Science Intensive. Perhaps most notably, she is a graduate of the Audubon Canyon Ranch junior docent program and is currently an intern for that organization. Wherever she goes people learn from her contagious yet gentle passion and unlimited natural knowledge.

Chris Pincetich | Bilingual Spanish Speaker is a naturalist, marine biologist, and instructor for the California Naturalist training program at the Point Reyes National Seashore. He has a passion for sharing the details of the California Current marine ecosystem and the marine mammals, birds and invertebrates that rely on its productivity. Chris has been leading trips and local excursions for over fifteen years, including classes for the Point Reyes Field Institute, whale watching around the Farallon Islands for the Oceanic Society, and sea turtle conservation experiences in Costa Rica.

Jennifer Phillips is a Senior Project Manager with Point Blue Conservation Science’s STRAW (Students and Teachers Restoring a Watershed) program and manages habitat restoration projects around the Bay Area. She has been an avid birder for the last 15 years, and over her professional career has conducted point counts, nest searches, and habitat assessment and vegetation surveys throughout California and other parts of the U.S. In her free time, Jennifer enjoys adding to her bird life list, participating in local Christmas Bird Counts, and sharing her passion for birding with others. 

Todd Plummer has over 30 years of experience as a birder and conservationist. He has worked as a wildlife biologist in the Sierra Nevada and has led many birding and nature hikes on both U.S. coasts. He became a Certified California Naturalist through the UC Davis program in 2014 and has taught many workshops in using iNaturalist for the program. He studied bird population dynamics and endangered species management at the University of Georgia. He operates Wild Marin Nature Tours and works part-time as a kayak guide for Blue Waters Kayaking. Todd's motto: Every day is a treasure hunt.

Rajan Rao has been birding in and around the Bay Area for the past 6 years. He is now a Junior at Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco. He spends his time exploring new birding locations, documenting birds and various other fauna with a camera, and teaching the young birders’ community. He has been the co-president of the California Young Birders’ Club for the past two years.

Dede Sabbag has had a lifelong career in the field of environmental education. She has worked and volunteered with various schools and non-profits, including The Headlands Institute, The Watershed Project, The Marine Mammal Center, and WildCare/Terwilliger Nature Center. Her passions all along have been teaching others to love nature and going birding. Retirement allowed her the time to help with the Marin Breeding Bird Atlas II, and she spent the last two springs visiting Chileno Valley ranches every week to document the breeding birds of the area. She looks forward to sharing about the birds in this remote but bountiful habitat.

David Sexton is an avid Marin County birder for the last twenty-five years with ten years on Hawk Watch with GGRO, Co-compiler for the Cheep Thrills CBC and leader of many CBC counts as well as annual Shore Bird Census counts.  He has been the bird census compiler for the Hamilton Wetlands restoration for the last ten years, coordinating the volunteers twice monthly to complete census counts of the wetlands. He is a member of the Golden Eagle Monitoring Team for the East Bay Regional Parks and has tracked Golden Eagles using telemetry for the last seven years.  He has a B.S. degree in Ornamental Horticulture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. 

Dave Shuford is currently co-leading a project (with Lisa Hug) on the distribution and relative abundance of subspecies of White-Crowned Sparrows in winter in four North Bay counties (Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Solano). He retired as the senior scientist in the Wetlands Ecology Division at Point Blue Conservation Science in 2019 after 44 years of service. His primary interests include the status, distribution, trends, and conservation of birds in California and the West. Major research projects have focused on: shorebird distribution and abundance throughout the Pacific Flyway; colonial breeding waterbirds in California; reconnaissance surveys at the Salton Sea and Klamath Basin; and long-term trends and reproductive success of California Gulls at Mono Lake relative to concerns over water diversions.

Priya Shukla is a marine ecologist, science writer, and currently an associate with Strategic Earth Consulting where she facilitates mindful conversations around natural resources. She holds a B.S. in Environmental Science and Management as well as an M.S. & Ph.D. in Ecology. Her research has considered the effects of climate change on coastal ecosystems as well as exploring climate-resilient strategies for oyster aquaculture in Tomales Bay. She is deeply invested in making marine science and natural spaces more accessible, as well as better understanding human relationships with the ocean.

Dan Singer has been a student of ornithology since childhood. His interest and expertise in identifying issues and in the status and distribution of birds led to many years as a regional editor for the journal North American Birds and as a long-time member of the California Bird Records Committee. He is currently an eBird regional reviewer for California. Dan spends an inordinate amount of time watching gulls, but would rather be at sea looking for petrels.

Kevin Stockmann is curious and friendly, and his guiding style inspires a feeling of connectedness. He is a veteran Marin County naturalist and co-founder of Marin Nature Adventures. Intimately familiar with the topography and natural history of Marin County, Kevin cherishes our landscape and enjoys sharing the trails. He is a commercial fishery observer for NOAA Fisheries and has degrees in biology and economics with a deep love for trees, birds, and the web of life.

Teresa and Miles Tuffli are avid birders from Sonoma County who run the website I'm Birding Right Now. They especially love helping fellow nature-lovers and “bird-curious” folks take the next step of getting into the field to enjoy the bird world! They’ve led guided bird walks for the Marin Audubon Society, Redwood Region Ornithological Society, Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, LandPaths, and Point Reyes National Seashore Association’s Field Institute. 

Nils Warnock has been the Director of Conservation Science for Audubon Canyon Ranch since 2018 and lives on Tomales Bay in Marshall, CA.  He has a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of California at Davis and San Diego State University. Nils started his ornithological career in coastal Marin County (affectionately known as West Marin) at the Point Reyes Bird Observatory (now Point Blue), where, most recently, he was the co-director of the Wetlands Division from 2000-2008.  From 2010-2018, Nils served as the executive director of Audubon Alaska and as a vice president of the National Audubon Society. Nils is a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society and has 40 years of experience contributing to the ecology and conservation of Pacific Flyway birds, especially shorebirds.  During this time, he has conducted pioneering studies tracking the movements of shorebirds throughout the Pacific and East Asian-Australasian flyways. 

Liz Wilhelm is a lead guide and naturalist at Blue Waters Kayaking. Originally from southeast Ohio, she came to California to complete an internship for her studies in Eco-tourism and Adventure Travel in 2010. She is an American Canoe Association instructor for Sea Kayaking and Stand Up Paddleboarding, Wilderness First Responder, Swift Water Rescue trained, a Leave No Trace Master Educator, and on top of all that she is also the owner of West Marin Massage & Wellness in Point Reyes Station.

Step Wilson is a freelance biologist working with several non-profit organizations and the former Hawkwatch Program Manager at the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory (GGRO). For the past 20 years, he has monitored raptors at breeding, migration, and wintering sites throughout the Great Lakes and Rocky Mountain Flyway. He has studied raptors through counting and banding efforts in Italy, Israel, Mexico, and Canada. Step’s main interest is identifying raptor use of landscapes through observation, banding, and telemetry to focus conservation efforts on important use areas.

David Wimpfheimer is a biologist, naturalist, EAC board member, and co-founder of the Point Reyes Birding & Nature Festival. He has a passion for the birds and the natural history of the West. David has been leading trips and expeditions for almost forty years, including classes for the Point Reyes Field Institute, Marin Agricultural Land Trust, and the California Academy of Sciences, as well as tours in Mexico, Alaska, Scotland, and other regions for groups including the Smithsonian Institution, Wild Wings, and Road Scholar. 

Melissa Witte is a naturalist and field biologist turned high school science teacher. She is an avid birder, backpacker, native plant enthusiast & general outdoor devotee who relishes time in the field observing everything from pollen baskets on bees to constellations in the night sky.  She has banded birds in Texas & tracked Black-backed Woodpeckers in Plumas National Forest, monitored sea turtle nesting at Cumberland Island National Seashore, and served as an educator for Hawkwatch, International, in addition to volunteering for several non-profit, field research, and education-oriented projects. 

Bill Yeates has been birding since 1969 across the county, and in California since he arrived in 1975. He is a former President of the Monterey Audubon Chapter has been a volunteer naturalist at the Whitehouse Nature Center in Albion College, taught an adult birding class at the Nature Center, and for the Point Reyes Birding & Nature Festival. He is a long-time member of the Environmental Action Committee and Western Field Ornithologists and has served on the board of various environmental organizations. He was appointed by the California State Senate to serve on the Governing Board of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency from April 2013 until he resigned in December 2022.