about sophie
Sophia is a 13 year-old 7th grader who lives in Maineville, Ohio. They enjoy traveling to the local parks and reserves to search for the birds that reside there. Their favorite bird is the Eastern Whip-poor-will, and they will not hesitate to drown you in bird facts about it. They love watching shorebirds probe, song sparrows sing, and they love to express those behaviors through art. When not out searching for birds, Sophie enjoys baking, playing volleyball, and drawing. |
about catalina
Catalina Jacobs is an 11 year old from Orrville, Ohio who loves birding. She was invited to be a member of Ohio Young Birders Club last spring. Introduced to nature by her older brother, Catalina has been serious about birding since she was 7 when she first saw a Palm Warbler while staying in Florida along with a variety of shorebirds at the beach. Her homeschool class at the Ohio Bird Sanctuary has allowed her to see song birds, corvids, raptors, and eagles up close. She has been inspired by their rescue stories and appreciates their beauty. Every year Catalina and her family attend the Biggest Week in American Birding in Oak Harbor, Ohio, Headlands Birding Festival in Mentor, Ohio as well as other birding events throughout the year. She believes that it is crucial to research and study birds because the more people understand about birds the more we can support their habitat and population. In her free time Catalina enjoys reading, cooking, baking and cheering on The Ohio State Buckeyes! |
about emily
Emily has been fascinated by birds at least since she was 8 and has been part of birding clubs for the past 9 years. She has participated in young birders’ events in southwest Ohio as well as the Texas Gulf Coast and the Texas Hill Country. She enjoys both the science of birds as flying animals and the artistry of birds with their variety of shapes, colors, and markings. Emily lives with her parents and younger brother in Dayton where she is homeschooled in Grade 12. When she’s not birding or creating art, she enjoys reading, writing stories, volunteering at her local library, and simply spending time outdoors. |
About baron
Baron Jacobs is a 13 year old who is homeschooled and a member of Ohio Young Birders Club. He first got into birds in preschool when a friend introduced him to birding by identifying a Chipping Sparrow. Baron started looking at field guides and learning the birds that visited the backyard feeders. Baron soon persuaded his parents to buy birdhouses to attract Eastern Blue Birds. It has taken a lot of work and patience, but he has had 20 Blue Birds fledge from his backyard in the last 3 years. Baron cares deeply about conservation and wishes that more people knew just how much they can do for the ecosystem by using less chemicals on their lawn and planting native flowers and bushes. When Baron is not outside looking for the next coolest thing mother nature can offer, you can find him hiking, biking, climbing trees and playing chess. |
Presented by Baron Jacobs
Date: Saturday, May 9 Time: 3:00-3:30 p.m. Location: Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center Fee: $10 Donation to the OYBC Registration Required: Yes Capacity: 80 Taking a closer peek into the truly astonishing world of the different ways birds raise their young from courtship displays to fledgling.
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About silas
John Silas Gajary (“Silas”) is a 7th-grade student who is a member of the Central Ohio Young Birders Club. Silas first became fascinated by birds through backyard birding during the pandemic. After learning about apps like Cornell’s Merlin and participating in projects such as the Great Backyard Bird Count, he realized that he could contribute to bird conservation as a citizen scientist using computational methods to analyze publicly available data. Silas’s research employs computational modeling, including system dynamics and agent-based modeling, to generate insights that could help protect vulnerable bird populations. Silas has presented some of his findings as a co-author at the Ohio Bird Conservation Initiative’s Avian Research Conference in November 2024. The World Science Festival selected him in 2024 as a Junior World Science Scholar in science and mathematics. Silas enjoys reading, cross-country running, and traveling (especially on trains). His favorite birds include the Pileated Woodpecker and the Mourning Dove. |
Presented by Silas Gajary
Date: Sunday, May 10 Time: 2:15-2:45 p.m. Location: Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center Fee: $10 Donation to the OYBC Registration Required: Yes Capacity: 80 This study employs computational simulation modeling to investigate the dynamics underlying the persistence of Hooded Warbler (Setophaga citrina) populations despite pronounced brood parasitism of their nests. Brood parasitism perpetrated by Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) exacerbates population declines and complicates conservation challenges for a wide variety of passerine hosts. However, recent findings have provided evidence that at least some populations of Hooded Warblers remain stable and relatively unscathed despite brood parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbird. My presentation will describe a generative computational approach for understanding the putative resilience mechanisms that Hooded Warblers may use to escape the population-level consequences of brood parasitism. Additionally, I will present a prototype simulation model that draws from published studies on Brown-Headed Cowbird brood parasitism of Hooded Warbler nests. Finally, I will discuss how the simulation model could aid in developing hypotheses and extending evidence-based empirical inquiry to Hooded Warbler populations broadly, as well as other, more vulnerable, passerine populations.
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ABOUT Desmond
Desmond is a 13 year old that’s been birding for 5 years. He loves to just sit and watch birds come to his feeder and to go out to find birds all around the US and hopes to go international soon. He also loves poetry, (as you will see in his presentation) the flow and connections of the words are why he loves this subject. In addition to the OYBC, he is a member of the Toledo Zoo Bird Club and Bowling Green State University Ornithology Club. This summer he has started a volunteer project to make the BGSU collection of taxidermied birds more engaging and informative. |
Presented by Desmond McCluney
Date: Sunday, May 10 Time: 3:00-3:30 p.m. Location: Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center Fee: $10 Donation to the OYBC Registration Required: Yes Capacity: 80 Desmond will share the joy of birds and birding through original poems and other expressions of bird joy. Note; Presentation will Feature Art by Christina Baal, beloved bird trading card artist.
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ABOUT Marcella
Marcella Grottoli is a high school senior in the Central OYBC Chapter who seeks learn more about the world and the people around her. She has been fascinated by birds from a young age and has been a dedicated birder for most of her life. Her spark bird was a Black-throated Warbler she saw in Vermont at age ten, an experience that deepened her passion for birds ever since. Motivated by her love for birding, Marcella actively participates in and volunteers at local bird conservation and awareness efforts, including Magee Marsh’s Biggest Week in American Birding festival and the Ohio State Wetlands Center. She is also conducting a bioacoustics research project on forest songbirds to study the effects of human interference on birdsong—an extension of her passion for the natural world and her commitment to protecting the environment. Her ultimate goal during and after high school is to continue conserving and maintaining the habitats birds rely on, ensuring that they remain a wonder for everyone to appreciate and enjoy. Outside of birding, Marcella enjoys drawing, painting, reading, biking, and spending time with friends and family. |
Presented by Marcella Grottoli
Date: Saturday, May 16 Time: 2:15-2:45 p.m. Location: Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center Fee: $10 Donation to the OYBC Registration Required: Yes Capacity: 80 What do you think when you hear a bird singing outside your house, or while on a walk? Do you think about how birds rely on sound to communicate? Through songs and calls, songbirds relay information among and across species. However, birdsong characteristics, such as pitch and amplitude, may be subject to change over time in response to environmental stimuli and the process of natural selection (Todd, n.d.). But what happens when humans introduce stimuli in the form of sound pollution that force songbirds to change their songs and calls in order to carry out their daily functions? Anthrophony, human-generated noise, has been shown to affect bird behaviors, including birdsongs. So, if a group of Song Sparrows lives closer to a highway, how do their songs change compared to individuals of the same species whose territories are just a few miles away from that sound pollution source? Since we are the humans causing these disruptions, it is up to us to mitigate the effects and limit our damage to the environment.
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About joel
Joel Stiver is a 17-year-old from a small town in northwest Ohio. He enjoys a wide range of activities, including running, swimming, writing, photography, and especially exploring the outdoors. Always eager to learn more about the planet’s wonders, he finds travel to be a rewarding hobby. Each new journey deepens his understanding of the world, and one day, he hopes to transform his love for nature into a career. |
Presented by Joel Stiver
Date: Saturday, May 16 Time: 3:00-3:30 p.m. Location: Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center Fee: $10 Donation to the OYBC Registration Required: Yes Capacity: 80 An extraordinary opportunity presented to youth inspired by the natural world, Victor Emanuel Nature Tours has led young adults for many years into one of North America’s most biodiverse regions, the great Pacific Northwest. Join me, as I recount exploring the magnificent mountains of the Cascade Range, and navigating the chilly waters of the Puget Sound region. A series of unforgettable moments all set in the breathtaking state of Washington, from forming lifelong friendships to hearing the enchanting songs of various beautiful birds, this is Camp Cascades.
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