2024 WORKSHOP PRESENTERS
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Amar Ayyash
Amar Ayyash is both an expert on the gulls of North America and an evangelist for "gull recreation". He coordinates the Annual Gull Frolic on Lake Michigan, hosts the popular website anythinglarus.com, and is often found speaking at birding events throughout the continent. Much of his free time is dedicated to traveling the world to photograph and study gulls. Ayyash has published a number of articles on gull identification, distribution, and molt. He is the author of the upcoming book, The Gull Guide. Amar lives in northern Illinois where he teaches mathematics.
Christina Baal
Christina Baal is a wandering bird artist whose dream is to meet and paint 10,000 different species of birds. She discovered the world of birding as a student at Bard College in the Hudson Valley. After graduating with a BA in Studio Art in 2014, she started her own art business, "Drawing 10,000 Birds," and set out to find birds. Christina's adventures have taken her across the country and around the globe to places like Costa Rica, Alaska, the Galápagos, and Japan. Her art has been featured at a number of birding festivals and events, including The Biggest Week in American Birding, Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, and New Jersey Audubon's World Series of Birding. In 2022, her Burrowing Owl artwork was chosen as the American Birding Association's "Bird of the Year" art. While not painting and chasing birds, Christina works as an environmental educator, bird guide, and art instructor so that she can share her love of birds and art. She currently lives with her partner, a California Condor biologist, in California’s Pinnacles National Park.
Andrew Birch
Andy has provided illustrations for numerous ID articles and books both in Europe and North America.
Susan Brickner-Wren
Susan Brickner-Wren is an award-winning artist from the heart of Ohio, working in watercolor. She’s currently a featured artist for Arches premium art papers. A born outdoor enthusiast, she draws inspiration from exploration of the natural world. She paints a range of subjects, but has a special appreciation for birds. “Birds have always held a bit of magic to me. Their mastery of flight, freedom and song mesmerized me as a child. The diversity, adaptability and beauty of birds is staggering.” Professionally, she protects the environment as a wastewater operations supervisor with a background in Chemistry and Microbiology. In her free time she’s often birding, gathering reference photos of birds while honing her photography skills, or planning the next trip.
Erik Bruhnke
Erik Bruhnke has loved birds since he was a child looking at chickadees. He graduated from Northland College in Wisconsin with a Natural Resources degree in 2008 and taught field ornithology at Northland College for three semesters. After graduation his springs and summers were spent conducting bird surveys through northern forests, vast prairies, and western mountains. He worked as an interpreter for six fall seasons at Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory in Duluth, Minnesota; counted migrating raptors at the Corpus Christi HawkWatch in Texas in 2015; and was the 2016, 2017, and 2018 hawk counter at the Cape May Hawkwatch in New Jersey. In the fall of 2020, he educated visitors at the Cape May Hawkwatch. Last fall he helped count raptors and point out the migration once again to visitors back at Hawk Ridge; his earlier hawkwatching stomping grounds. Erik’s wildlife photography has won national awards, and he’s written for the American Birding Association’s Birder’s Guide, BirdWatching magazine, and Bird Watcher’s Digest. Erik is a birding tour guide for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours as well as his own business, Naturally Avian. He enjoys hiking, kayaking, cross-country skiing and just being out in the snow. In his free time he loves to cook and bake
Jamie Cunningham
Jamie has had a lifelong interest in all nature and wildlife, but especially birds. A visit to Magee Marsh in NW Ohio during the Biggest Week in American Birding festival turned her interest into a passion. Since then, Jamie dove headfirst into birding and especially bird photography. Jamie works as a birding and photography guide for Sabrewing Nature Tours and enjoys traveling all over the world to photograph and lead tours. Her award-winning images have been featured in a number of publications and were even featured in her own gallery. Jamie was instrumental in forming a Nature Photography club in her hometown, where she shares her wealth of knowledge with members. She is heavily involved in local conservation efforts in her hometown. Jamie is proud of her involvement as an advisor for the Ohio Young Birder’s Club. She is passionate about sharing her love of birds with youth and spends time traveling to local schools and teaching students about birds and conservation. Jamie hopes to inspire others to enjoy birds and join in conservation efforts to help birds in any way they can.
Emily Engle
As an outdoor enthusiast, wildlife lover, and outreach coordinator, Emily helps connect people to nature through Merlin Bird ID and eBird. A background in large carnivore research and environmental education inspired her passion for engaging people in nature and science. After falling in love with the birds and landscapes of Little St. Simons Island, Georgia as a naturalist, she helped share conservation projects and stories through digital outreach. Following her passion, Emily joined the Cornell Lab of Ornithology team where she helps engage communities in birding, data collection, and conservation through eBird and Merlin.
Bill Evans
Bill Evans is founder and director of Old Bird Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit since 2000 promoting avian nocturnal flight call monitoring for science and environmental education. Bill has studied the avian nocturnal flight call (nfc) phenomenon since 1985. He collaborated with the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in the mid-1990s to develop the first automatic computer-assisted nfc detector, and in 2002 he co-authored the first field guide to flight calls of landbirds in eastern North America with Michael O’Brien. Bill’s research on avian night flight calls has been widely covered and his latest publications can be found at Oldbird.org/pubs.htm
Cassidy Ficker
Cassidy Ficker is a first year veterinary student at the Ohio State University, planning to specialize in companion animal and wildlife medicine when receives her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 2026. She completed her undergrad at OSU in the spring of 2022 with a major in Animal Sciences and minor in Wildlife Sciences. She has been a birder since third grade, growing up in the Miami Valley Christian Academy Bird Club and Ohio Young Birders Club. One of her favorite aspects of birding is connecting with others as we all celebrate a common love for birds, and she has been honored to have ample opportunities to do this both as the former president of the Ornithology Club at Ohio State and a guide at the Biggest Week in American Birding festival for the past few years. The Biggest Week area is particularly special to her as she serves as an eBird reviewer for the counties.
Tyler Ficker
Tyler found his passion for birding when his 4th grade teacher incorporated bird identification into the science curriculum. Tyler completed his undergraduate degree in the School of Environmental and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University. He as president of The Ornithology Club at Ohio State for two years. Tyler is a founding member of Lights Out Buckeyes—part of Ohio Lights Out, a network of programs aimed at making urban landscapes (in this case, the Ohio State campus) safer for migratory birds. He is an award-winning presenter at environmental, wildlife and birding conferences. He also worked as a field technician for the Ohio Division of Wildlife surveying grassland species.
Tyler is a birding and photography guide with Sabrewing Nature Tours. When he’s not traveling, he is a professional portrait, wedding, and nature photographer. He loves birding his home state of Ohio, especially during migration season, but is experienced in birding areas from Alaska to the tropics.
Tyler is a birding and photography guide with Sabrewing Nature Tours. When he’s not traveling, he is a professional portrait, wedding, and nature photographer. He loves birding his home state of Ohio, especially during migration season, but is experienced in birding areas from Alaska to the tropics.
Steve Ingraham
Steve Ingraham has been an avid birder and wildlife photographer for most of his adult life. He served as the Birding Market Specialist for ZEISS Sports Optics for the last decade of his working career and is a familiar face in the birding community . He has written several books on an easy method for bird and wildlife photography, as well as “Steve Ingraham’s 7 Fold Path to Better Birding.” He publishes The Point and Shoot Nature Photographer on the web with several photo blogs and learning resources at psnp.info.
Ryan Jacob
Ryan is a Toledo native who discovered his passion for birds while working as a naturalist for the state parks and during his many seasons at the BSBO Navarre Marsh banding station. With a background in philosophy and years of travel across North America, he not only has a wide knowledge of birds and the outdoors, but an understanding and appreciation for the natural world at large. Ryan is the Banding Projects Director at Black Swamp Bird Observatory and manages Navarre Marsh passerine banding research station, working with a team of volunteers and seasonal staff to operate this constant effort mist netting operation during spring and fall migration. He also coordinates BSBO’s Motus and radio telemetry work, and operates BSBO’s MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) stations. Ryan is a North American Banding Council certified trainer.
Kevin Karlson
Kevin Karlson is an accomplished birder, author, professional tour leader and wildlife photographer/instructor. He is a regular at Bird and Nature festivals in North America, where he gives keynote presentations, workshops on bird identification, and photo instruction. Kevin’s books include The Shorebird Guide (2007); Birding by Impression: A Different Approach to Bird Identification (2015); Birds of Prey, with Pete Dunne (2017) (all three Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers); Gulls Simplified: A Comparative Identification Approach, (Princeton University Press, 2018); and Bird Families of North America) (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021), both with Pete Dunne as co-author. A new book titled “The Shorebirds of North America: A Natural History and Photographic Celebration” with Pete Dunne (Princeton University Press) has just been completed and will be out in the spring of 2024, and is not an ID guide.
Photography books include The Birds of Cape May and Visions: Earth’s Elements in Bird and Nature Photography (Schiffer Publishing). Kevin also produced six photographic laminated foldout ID guides for Quick Reference Publishing (Raptors of Eastern and Western North America (2012); Waterfowl of North America (2013); Warblers of North America (2016); Shorebirds of North America (2014); and Owls and Nightjars of North America (2017). While officially retired, Kevin continues to lead select tours and photo workshops for his company Jaeger Tours, and for Wildside Nature Tours of Pennsylvania.
Photography books include The Birds of Cape May and Visions: Earth’s Elements in Bird and Nature Photography (Schiffer Publishing). Kevin also produced six photographic laminated foldout ID guides for Quick Reference Publishing (Raptors of Eastern and Western North America (2012); Waterfowl of North America (2013); Warblers of North America (2016); Shorebirds of North America (2014); and Owls and Nightjars of North America (2017). While officially retired, Kevin continues to lead select tours and photo workshops for his company Jaeger Tours, and for Wildside Nature Tours of Pennsylvania.
John Kricher
John Kricher taught ecology and ornithology at Wheaton College (Massachusetts) for 48 years. He is a fellow in the American Ornithological Society and past-president of the Wilson Ornithological Society, the Association of Field Ornithologists, and the Nuttall Ornithological Club. He is a recipient of the Alexander F. Skutch Medal for Excellence in Neotropical Ornithology from the Association or Field Ornithologists. His books include The New Neotropical Companion (2017), Peterson Reference Guide to Bird Behavior (2020) and Galapagos: A Natural History, second edition (2022). He lives with his wife Martha Vaughan in Hingham, Massachusetts.
Cin-Ty Lee
Cin-Ty Lee is a professor of geology at Rice University. He has been birding for over thirty years and has authored many articles on challenging identifications. Together with Andrew Birch, he recently produced the Princeton Field Guide to North American Flycatchers.
Kevin Loughlin
Kevin Loughlin was raised to appreciate nature while exploring the woodlands of Pennsylvania as a child. At age six, during a family trip through the American West, Kevin became fascinated with photography as well seeing the new and different birds throughout North America. Instilled with a love for travel and seeking new, exciting destinations he felt a desire to share his experiences with others and in 1993 he created Wildside Nature Tours.
Kevin’s photographs and articles have appeared in publications such as WildBird, Nature Photographer, Audubon, Birding and Philadelphia Magazines, as well as the many natural history books, including more than a dozen in the recent “Peterson’s Reference Guide to Owls of North American and the Caribbean” by Scott Weidensaul. Kevin’s newest project is, along with co-author John Kricher, “Galapagos: A Natural History” due out from Princeton University Press in Autumn 2022.
Kevin’s photographs and articles have appeared in publications such as WildBird, Nature Photographer, Audubon, Birding and Philadelphia Magazines, as well as the many natural history books, including more than a dozen in the recent “Peterson’s Reference Guide to Owls of North American and the Caribbean” by Scott Weidensaul. Kevin’s newest project is, along with co-author John Kricher, “Galapagos: A Natural History” due out from Princeton University Press in Autumn 2022.
Jim McCormac
Jim worked for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for 31 years as a botanist, and later specializing in wildlife diversity projects, especially involving birds. He has authored or coauthored six books, including Birds of Ohio (Lone Pine 2004); and Wild Ohio: The Best of Our Natural Heritage (Kent State University Press 2009). The latter won the 2010 Ohioana Book award. He is a coauthor of the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II book. His latest book, coauthored with Chelsea Gottfried, is Gardening for Moths (Ohio University Press 2023). Jim writes a column, Nature, for the Columbus Dispatch, and regularly publishes a natural history blog. He has written numerous articles in a variety of publications, and has delivered hundreds of presentations throughout the eastern United States. He was named 2015 Conservation Communicator of the Year by the Ohio League of Sportsmen. Jim is an avid photographer, shooting a range of natural history subjects. He has had hundreds of photos published in various forums. His photography can be sampled at https://www.jimmccormac.com/
Rosemary Mosco
Rosemary is a nature writer and cartoonist. Her Bird and Moon nature comics won the National Cartoonists Society’s award for Best Online Short Form Comic and were the subject of an award-winning museum exhibit. She has published 8 science books for kids and adults, including A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching and Butterflies Are Pretty... Gross! and has written and drawn for The New York Times, Audubon, Ranger Rick, and more.
Lisa Rainsong
Lisa Rainsong is a naturalist and educator who has also spent decades as a professional musician and as member of the music theory faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music until her recent retirement. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a Naturalist Certificate from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. She now joyfully dedicates her time to her work as a naturalist who especially loves teaching at the intersection of music and natural history. She makes field recordings of birds, insects, and amphibians for the music of natural history classes she teaches across Ohio. As a citizen scientist, Lisa does field research on crickets and katydids – research work that is done primarily by ear – and done surveys for regional park districts through NE Ohio. She has created an online field guide to the crickets and katydids of NE Ohio at listeningtoinsects.com. Her website is listeninginnature.com and her recordings and stories from the field are at her blog, Listening in Nature at listeninginnature.blogspot.com
Marie Read
Wildlife photographer and author Marie Read has forged a career out of capturing special moments in birds’ lives, creating images that combine beauty with impactful storytelling. Her photos are published nationally and internationally in magazines, books, and calendars. She’s won numerous awards, including Highly Commended for Birds in Flight in the 2023 Bird Photographer of the Year Contest. Other contests include the North American Nature Photography Association Showcase, Share The View contest, Audubon Photography Awards and Nature’s Best. Her articles and photo essays about bird behavior and bird photography have appeared in Living Bird, Bird Watching, Nature’s Best, and Wild Planet, among others. Marie has authored or co-authored five books, including the best-selling title Mastering Bird Photography: the Art, Craft and Technique of Photographing Birds and Their Behavior.
Kelly Riccetti
Kelly Riccetti is a lifelong artist and student of nature. She writes the birding and nature blog, "Red and the Peanut," where she shares her nature research, photographs, and wildlife paintings. When not blogging or painting, she can often be found hiking the banks of the Little Miami River in Cincinnati, Ohio searching out birds, wildflowers, insects and turtles.
Eric Ripma
Eric enjoys sharing his enthusiasm and knowledge, especially about identification, with birders of all ages and experience levels. After beginning birding at the age of ten in Indianapolis, Indiana, he birded every chance he had throughout his childhood. Birding has led him from spectacular migratory hotspots in the Great Lakes region to the Pacific coast and beyond. Eric has also spent time birding in many tropical locations throughout Central and South America.
He has worked for numerous bird-related projects including bird banding in the United States and Belize, monitoring breeding Caspian Terns in Oregon, counting migrating waterbirds at Whitefish Point, Michigan, and conducting shorebird surveys on Louisiana’s barrier islands. He is currently living in Louisiana and guiding birding tours for Sabrewing Nature Tours throughout North, Central, and South America.
He has worked for numerous bird-related projects including bird banding in the United States and Belize, monitoring breeding Caspian Terns in Oregon, counting migrating waterbirds at Whitefish Point, Michigan, and conducting shorebird surveys on Louisiana’s barrier islands. He is currently living in Louisiana and guiding birding tours for Sabrewing Nature Tours throughout North, Central, and South America.
Rob Ripma
Rob is a lifelong Indiana resident and co-owner of Sabrewing Nature Tours. He has traveled and birded extensively throughout the Americas and taken pelagic trips into the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. He is on the board of directors for Ohio’s Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO). Rob served as the President of the Board of the Amos Butler Audubon Society (ABAS) in Indianapolis from 2016-2021. Prior to joining the ABAS and BSBO boards, he served on the executive board of the Indiana Audubon Society for three years as Treasurer and Vice President. He is co-founder of the Indiana Young Birders Club and speaks at a variety of organizations and schools about birds and birding to share his knowledge and experiences in the field. He served as the primary bird blogger for Birds & Blooms Magazine from 2013-2017.
Rob loves working with new and experienced birders of all ages and believes that teaching people about birds will not only increase interest in birding but also help them better understand why we must work to protect birds and their habitats. A graduate from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business in 2008 with a degree in Marketing, Rob lives with his wife Stephanie and daughter Molly in Carmel, Indiana.
Rob loves working with new and experienced birders of all ages and believes that teaching people about birds will not only increase interest in birding but also help them better understand why we must work to protect birds and their habitats. A graduate from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business in 2008 with a degree in Marketing, Rob lives with his wife Stephanie and daughter Molly in Carmel, Indiana.
Lisa Schibley
Lisa joined the Shorebird Recovery Program at Manomet in 2008 and is currently the North American coordinator for the International Shorebird Survey - recruiting and engaging ISS volunteers, managing and developing the ISS database and visualization tools, and finding creative ways to tell shorebird stories using ISS data. Lisa holds an M.S. in Physics from the University of Arizona, and her background is in numerical analysis. After graduating with her M.S., she did data and image analysis on LIDAR systems for Arete Associates before helping to start a business with her future husband conducting numerical analysis on ratings and viewing habits in public television.
Lisa comes from a birding family and started dedicated birding in 1993 after moving to Tucson for graduate school. While living in Arizona, she coordinated the Tucson Christmas Bird Count and led field trips for the Tucson Audubon Society. Now in Massachusetts, she currently leads trips for the Manomet, local bird clubs, and other conservation organizations. She is also a part of the Massachusetts Avian Records Committee.
Lisa comes from a birding family and started dedicated birding in 1993 after moving to Tucson for graduate school. While living in Arizona, she coordinated the Tucson Christmas Bird Count and led field trips for the Tucson Audubon Society. Now in Massachusetts, she currently leads trips for the Manomet, local bird clubs, and other conservation organizations. She is also a part of the Massachusetts Avian Records Committee.
Alli Smith
Alli Smith’s love of birds was sparked on a middle-school field trip to Cape May to see the annual spring spawning of horseshoe crabs and the shorebirds that depend on them. She earned a BS in Wildlife Science from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in 2016 to pursue her dream of working in the world of bird conservation. In the many jobs Alli has worked since graduating (with puffins, shorebirds, and owls) she most enjoyed working with citizen scientists, volunteers, and birders, which is what has led her current role at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. As the Merlin Project Coordinator, Alli connects millions of people around the world to birds through the Merlin Bird ID app, and through eBird. Alli enjoys teaching people how to use these tools to become better birders and contribute to conservation. Outside of work, Alli spends much of her time on art, where she takes her bird observations from the field and turns them into ceramic works or cuddly crocheted plushies.
Tom Stephenson
Tom has been birding since he was a kid. His articles and photographs are in museums and many publications including Handbook of the Birds of the World, Handbook of the Mammals of the World, Birds of Madagascar, and Guide to the Birds of SE Brazil. He’s guided many groups in the Americas and Asia, and had the honor of training guides for the government of Bhutan. He’s won categories in the World Series of Birding and holds the US photo big-day record at 208 species. As a musician Tom played concerts and did studio work for many years, worked with several Grammy and Academy Award winners, and performed with members of the NY Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. His clients included the Grateful Dead, Phil Collins and the FBI. His latest book, The Warbler Guide, is published by Princeton University Press and won the National Outdoor Book Award. The Warbler Guide App includes 3D rotating models and won the 2015 Design Award for AAUP. He is currently working on five more books and apps for Princeton including a full US field guide app based on the 3D rotation and comparison features in The Warbler Guide app. Tom has a patent on technology to identify animal vocalizations using a wide range of analytic criteria
Hannah Toutonghi
Hannah Toutonghi grew up in Washington State, where she found her love of birds and the natural world from an early age. She is an avid birder and has worked for several years studying birds and doing field work. She has previously worked at the Natural Resource Research Institute, Whitefish Point Bird Observatory, Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, and the Institute for Bird Populations. Hannah completed her master’s degree at the University of Minnesota Duluth and will continue her work on researching the winter ecology and movement of Northern Hawk Owls. She has presented her research at the Raptor Research Foundation, The Biggest Week in American Birding, and other birding festivals over the last few years, and enjoys educating people about raptors and owls.
Heidi Trudell
Heidi Trudell is tired of picking up dead birds. As a biologist turned architectural consultant, they have been involved with bird/window collision research and prevention since 2003. Their passion for bird conservation has led to serving on Safe Passage committees in SE Michigan, as well as starting the Facebook groups “Just Save Birds” and “Dead Birds 4 Science!” To learn more about Heidi's work, see justsavebirds.com. For wildlife emergencies, see ahnow.org
Brian Zwiebel
Brian is owner and guide at Sabrewing Nature Tours. He began his journey with birds by enrolling in an Ornithology class at Hocking College in 1993. More than 30 of his images have been featured at the National Center for Nature Photography in Toledo, OH. Brian's award-winning photography has been internationally published and used in articles he authored for Audubon and B&H Photo-Video’s Explora blog.