2022 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
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Rich Beilfuss
Dr. Richard Beilfuss has served as International Crane Foundation’s President & CEO and ex officio member of the ICF Board of Directors since 2010. Beilfuss helped launch many of ICF’s signature projects and provides oversight, vision, and prioritization to ICF conservation programs across Asia, Africa, and North America. He is responsible for ICF’s $9 million annual budget and led their $40 million comprehensive capital campaign
From 2006-2009, Beilfuss lived in Mozambique with his family and served as Director of Conservation Services for Gorongosa National Park. From 1992-2006, Beilfuss was responsible for developing and managing ICF’s regional program in Africa. He built a team of staff and partners in more than 20 countries across Africa, seeking deep connections with the communities who share their lands with cranes, and spearheaded public and private efforts to implement innovative water management practices in the water-stressed Zambezi River Basin for the benefit of cranes, many other species, and human livelihoods.
Over his 30-year career, Beilfuss has engaged in water management and wetland restoration efforts in more than 20 countries across Africa and Asia, with particular focus on Nepal, Vietnam, Mozambique, and Zambia. He has contributed to the restoration and management of thousands of acres of prairie and savanna landscape in the Midwestern USA. He has authored more than 100 scientific papers, technical reports, proceedings, and lay-audience publications, and presented his research findings and conservation vision to governments, communities, and peer-scientists worldwide.
Beilfuss is a Licensed Professional Hydrologist and has a Ph.D. in Land Resources (Wetland Ecology), an MSc in Civil and Environmental Engineering-Hydrology, an MSc in Water Resources Management, and a BSc in International Economics. Beilfuss received the Distinguished Alumni Award from University of Wisconsin-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, where he is an Honorary Fellow and enjoys teaching courses and mentoring students. He was appointed by the Governor of Wisconsin to serve on the Examining Board of Professional Geologists, Hydrologists, and Soil Scientists.
Beilfuss lives with his wife, Katie, and their two sons in Madison. He is an avid unicycle rider, dart-thrower, and birder–but not all at the same time.
From 2006-2009, Beilfuss lived in Mozambique with his family and served as Director of Conservation Services for Gorongosa National Park. From 1992-2006, Beilfuss was responsible for developing and managing ICF’s regional program in Africa. He built a team of staff and partners in more than 20 countries across Africa, seeking deep connections with the communities who share their lands with cranes, and spearheaded public and private efforts to implement innovative water management practices in the water-stressed Zambezi River Basin for the benefit of cranes, many other species, and human livelihoods.
Over his 30-year career, Beilfuss has engaged in water management and wetland restoration efforts in more than 20 countries across Africa and Asia, with particular focus on Nepal, Vietnam, Mozambique, and Zambia. He has contributed to the restoration and management of thousands of acres of prairie and savanna landscape in the Midwestern USA. He has authored more than 100 scientific papers, technical reports, proceedings, and lay-audience publications, and presented his research findings and conservation vision to governments, communities, and peer-scientists worldwide.
Beilfuss is a Licensed Professional Hydrologist and has a Ph.D. in Land Resources (Wetland Ecology), an MSc in Civil and Environmental Engineering-Hydrology, an MSc in Water Resources Management, and a BSc in International Economics. Beilfuss received the Distinguished Alumni Award from University of Wisconsin-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, where he is an Honorary Fellow and enjoys teaching courses and mentoring students. He was appointed by the Governor of Wisconsin to serve on the Examining Board of Professional Geologists, Hydrologists, and Soil Scientists.
Beilfuss lives with his wife, Katie, and their two sons in Madison. He is an avid unicycle rider, dart-thrower, and birder–but not all at the same time.
Jamie Cunningham
Jamie has had a life long interest in all nature and wildlife, but especially birds. A visit to Magee Marsh in NW Ohio during the Biggest Week festival turned her interest into a passion. That was in 2012, now she is a field trip leader for the festival. Since then Jamie has dove head first into birding and especially bird photography. Her award winning images have been featured in a number of publications and were even featured in her own gallery. Jamie is a birding and photography guide for Sabrewing Nature Tours. Jamie was instrumental in forming a Nature Photography club in her hometown, where she shares her wealth of knowledge with members. She also serves on the board of directors for the Tri-Moraine Audubon Society. Jamie is most 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.
Dr. Francesca "Francie" Cuthbert
Dr. Francesca J. Cuthbert is a Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She is also a Scientific Investigator at the University of Michigan Biological Station during the summer. For the past 30 years her research has focused on three topics in avian biology and conservation: recovery of federal or state listed species (especially piping plovers); ecology and population dynamics of colonial nesting waterbirds; and ecology and management of abundant species (especially double-crested cormorants). Most of her research involves working closely with federal and state agency biologists to facilitate conservation and management in the Great Lakes Region. She has advised > than 50 MS and PhD students and published >100 peer-reviewed research papers. Dr. Cuthbert is a past President of the Waterbird Society and a Fellow in the American Ornithological Society. In 2009 she was honored as a Recovery Champion by US Fish and Wildlife Service for her career-long contributions to the conservation of the Great Lakes population of the Piping Plover and in 2021 she received the Ralph W. Schreiber Conservation Award from the American Ornithological Society for extraordinary scientific contributions to the conservation, restoration and preservation of birds and their habitats.
Tykee James
Starting in his hometown of Philadelphia, PA, Tykee James was introduced to birding as a job and with that responsibility he learned how to build trust, power, and coalition in his own neighborhood. He has been a part of the birding community for a decade. Recently he earned recognition as the of the organizers of the first Black Birders Week in 2020 and later co-founded Amplify the Future to create opportunities for equity, justice, and joy in the birding community, STEAM, and the conservation movement.
Three years ago Tykee moved to the ancestral lands of the Nacotchtank peoples, the District of Columbia, to begin his employment at the National Audubon Society as the government affairs coordinator. There he has been grounded in his specialized role: organizing bird walks with members of Congress and congressional staff!
Tykee is a highly motivated visionary leader. He co-founded Birder’s Fund and the Freedom Birders project, two feature programs of Amplify the Future, and is President of the DC Audubon Society, while sitting on the board for the Wyncote Audubon Society, the Birding Co-op, and Justice Outside, and serves as an elected councilor for Wilson Ornithological Society.
Before moving to D.C. he was an environmental policy advisor for a State Representative and a field director for the state house election. He continues to develop himself as a leader through his membership in the Environmental Leadership Program and the Green Leadership Trust.
In his personal time he loves to cook, dance, and he is a producer for Wildlife Observer Network, a wildlife media project he started with some wildlife-friendly friends in Philly, co-hosting two podcasts: Brothers in Birding and On Word for Wildlife.
Websites: AmplifyTheFuture.org, WildlifeObserverNetwork.com, freedombirders.org
Twitter: @Tykee_James Instagram: @TykeeJames
Three years ago Tykee moved to the ancestral lands of the Nacotchtank peoples, the District of Columbia, to begin his employment at the National Audubon Society as the government affairs coordinator. There he has been grounded in his specialized role: organizing bird walks with members of Congress and congressional staff!
Tykee is a highly motivated visionary leader. He co-founded Birder’s Fund and the Freedom Birders project, two feature programs of Amplify the Future, and is President of the DC Audubon Society, while sitting on the board for the Wyncote Audubon Society, the Birding Co-op, and Justice Outside, and serves as an elected councilor for Wilson Ornithological Society.
Before moving to D.C. he was an environmental policy advisor for a State Representative and a field director for the state house election. He continues to develop himself as a leader through his membership in the Environmental Leadership Program and the Green Leadership Trust.
In his personal time he loves to cook, dance, and he is a producer for Wildlife Observer Network, a wildlife media project he started with some wildlife-friendly friends in Philly, co-hosting two podcasts: Brothers in Birding and On Word for Wildlife.
Websites: AmplifyTheFuture.org, WildlifeObserverNetwork.com, freedombirders.org
Twitter: @Tykee_James Instagram: @TykeeJames
Kenn Kaufman
Kenn Kaufman did not really focus on birds until the age of six. But since then he has tried to make up for lost time, traveling to watch birds in all 50 states and leading bird-watching tours on all seven continents. He has authored or coauthored more than a dozen books, including two memoirs and a nature identification series of Kaufman Field Guides. In 2005 he moved from Arizona to Ohio, where he is now writing a book about bird migration. After decades of studying birds and nature, Kenn says that he still learns amazing new things every time he steps outdoors, and his greatest joy comes from sharing the wonders of nature with new people.
Kimberly Kaufman
Kimberly Kaufman is an Ohio native whose lifelong love of the outdoors grew into a passion for birds in the 1990s. She monitored nesting Bald Eagles for the Ohio Division of Wildlife and ran bluebird trails before she began banding migrant songbirds for the Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO). Kimberly became the observatory's education director in 2005 and then executive director in 2009, a position she still holds. She played a key role in starting the Ohio Young Birders Club and The Biggest Week In American Birding. She is a contributing editor to Birds & Blooms magazine and coauthor of the Kaufman Field Guide to Nature of New England and Kaufman Field Guide to Nature of the Midwest. In addition to her role with BSBO, Kimberly serves on the boards of the American Bird Conservancy, Birdability, and Lake Erie Shores and Islands. In 2015, Kimberly received the American Birding Association's prestigious Chandler Robbins Award in recognition of her contributions to bird education and conservation. She and her husband Kenn live in northwest Ohio not far from the famed Magee Marsh Wildlife Area.
Tiffany Kersten
Tiffany Kersten is a Wisconsin native, turned Texan by way of New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Hawaii. She holds a B.S. in Wildlife Ecology from Northland College, and has spent over a decade as an environmental educator. She has taught about raptor identification and migration with the Cape May Bird Observatory, monitored shorebirds on Cape Cod, banded Honeycreepers in Hawaii, and finally landed in South Texas where she first worked at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, then Quinta Mazatlan World Birding Center, then managed the McAllen Nature Center, before completing a Lower 48 States Big Year in 2021, and founding her own bird guiding company, Nature Ninja Birding Tours. She guides primarily in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, but occasionally in other areas as well!
Ethan Kistler
Ethan Kistler hails from Ohio and began birding at the ripe age of 10 when he literally woke up one morning and decided that he wanted to become a birder. Since then, he has worked field jobs from Ohio to Alaska, traveled to over 40 countries, and led birding tours throughout North America, Europe, and Africa (where he lived in South Africa for 7 years). When not guiding birding tours, he’s chasing rarities, off on spontaneous birding jaunts, and reviewing data as one of eBird’s data reviewers for much of the African continent. Previously the Education and Outreach Specialist for Black Swamp Bird Observatory he now sits on the board of the Ohio Ornithological Society. His main focus now is guiding birding tours from NW Ohio and abroad filling in gaps between trips with ornithology-related field work. Ethan has written the ABA's Field Guide to Birds of Ohio, published in 2019.
David Lindo
David Lindo is The Urban Birder - broadcaster, writer, speaker, educator and bird tour leader. His mission is to engage city folk around the world with the environment through the medium of birds.
He has written countless articles on urban birds, urban conservation and wildlife in general for many websites, publications and magazines and has written the Forwards to several books. He is a regular television and radio presenter and has been featured on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 in the UK as well as other TV and radio channels around the world including CBS in the United States.
David was recently named as the 7th most influential person in wildlife by BBC Wildlife Magazine and in 2020 was shortlisted for the Professional Publishers Association (PPA) Columnist of the Year Award. He sat as a judge for the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021 and Bird Photographer of the Year 2021. He is a Fellow of the International League of Conservation Writers and a member of the British Travel Writers Guild. He is the Founder of the Tower 42 Bird Study Group and Britain’s Vote National Bird Campaign in 2015 that resulted in over 226,000 votes.
He was awarded the prestigious HH Bloomer Award in 2021 by the Linnean Society of London and has a play based on his life as The Urban Birder currently being staged by Wroclaw Contemporary Theatre, Poland. He is the author of The Urban Birder (Bloomsbury) 2011,Tales From Concrete Jungles (Bloomsbury) 2015, #Urban Birding (Kosmos) 2018 and How To Be An Urban Birder (Princeton/WildGuides) 2018.
David’s roles:
Vice-President Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust
President Friends of Suntrap Forest Centre
Honorary President Colombia Bird Fair
World Ambassador Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society
Urban Ambassador CJ Wildlife
Digital Ambassador Naturehood (Earthwatch Europe)
Ambassador for Leica Optics, EjoNoja Festival, London Wildlife Trust, Rare Bird Alert, Conservation Without Borders
Patron Birding For All, British Hedgehog Preservation Society, Lundy Island & River Crane Sanctuary
He has written countless articles on urban birds, urban conservation and wildlife in general for many websites, publications and magazines and has written the Forwards to several books. He is a regular television and radio presenter and has been featured on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 in the UK as well as other TV and radio channels around the world including CBS in the United States.
David was recently named as the 7th most influential person in wildlife by BBC Wildlife Magazine and in 2020 was shortlisted for the Professional Publishers Association (PPA) Columnist of the Year Award. He sat as a judge for the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021 and Bird Photographer of the Year 2021. He is a Fellow of the International League of Conservation Writers and a member of the British Travel Writers Guild. He is the Founder of the Tower 42 Bird Study Group and Britain’s Vote National Bird Campaign in 2015 that resulted in over 226,000 votes.
He was awarded the prestigious HH Bloomer Award in 2021 by the Linnean Society of London and has a play based on his life as The Urban Birder currently being staged by Wroclaw Contemporary Theatre, Poland. He is the author of The Urban Birder (Bloomsbury) 2011,Tales From Concrete Jungles (Bloomsbury) 2015, #Urban Birding (Kosmos) 2018 and How To Be An Urban Birder (Princeton/WildGuides) 2018.
David’s roles:
Vice-President Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust
President Friends of Suntrap Forest Centre
Honorary President Colombia Bird Fair
World Ambassador Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society
Urban Ambassador CJ Wildlife
Digital Ambassador Naturehood (Earthwatch Europe)
Ambassador for Leica Optics, EjoNoja Festival, London Wildlife Trust, Rare Bird Alert, Conservation Without Borders
Patron Birding For All, British Hedgehog Preservation Society, Lundy Island & River Crane Sanctuary
Rosemary Mosco
Rosemary Mosco makes books and cartoons that connect people with the natural world. Her Bird and Moon nature comics won the National Cartoonists Society’s award for Best Online Short Form Comic, were the subject of an award-winning museum exhibit, and are collected in a book that’s a 2019 ALA Great Graphic Novel for Teens. She co-wrote The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid, a NYT Best Seller, and wrote many other books for kids and adults. Her favorite glacial landform is the esker.