Biographies of Festival Leaders/Presentors
updated 8/5/08
Dot Bambach has been using her status as a retiree to pursue her lifelong interests in birds and birding. In addition to leading field trips throughout coastal Georgia, she is a past president and current board member of Ogeechee Audubon Society in Savannah and a founding member of the newly created friends group for the Savannah Coastal Wildlife Refuges. In her capacity as a US Fish & Wildlife volunteer, she has conducted shorebird surveys, coordinated two annual Christmas Bird Counts, and monitored wood stork breeding success at Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge. She was part of the team that this year achieved a "second in the nation" ranking for the Savannah area on the Great Backyard Bird Count.
Deb Barreiro avidly birds coastal Georgia. A resident of Tybee Island, Deb has spent countless hours collecting field data within Little Tybee Island State Heritage Preserve. The 6,780 acre Important Bird Area is accessible only by boat and is comprised of beaches, tidal flats, marshes and ponds that support significant resident and migratory populations of shorebirds and water birds. Deb works extensively on the coast for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Author of Birding Georgia, Birds of Kennesaw Mountain and Dragonflies and Damselflies of Georgia and the Southeast, GiffBeaton is also a photographer and lecturer. He has led bird tours and conducted bird identification seminars throughout the South for over fifteen years.
Ken Blankenship is the creator of the Georgia Online Birding Guide www.wingsoverga.com. He has birded extensively across the state of Georgia, and in particular has taken an interest in expanding our understanding of the distribution of unique breeding birds of the southern Appalachians. Ken is the compiler of the popular “From the Field” seasonal sightings summary for the GOS journal The Oriole, and recently also became compiler of seasonal sightings for the South Atlantic Region for North American Birds.
Chip Campbell and his wife Joy are the owners of Okefenokee Adventures, the official partner of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the East Entrance to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Recognized by the Georgia Wildlife Federation as 2005 Conservation Educators of the Year, the Campbells have extensive experience as naturalist guides and have received several awards for their conservation efforts. A native of Gainesville GA, Chip is the Georgia chair of the St. Marys River Management Committee and a member of the Pinhook-Osceola-Greater Okefenokee (POGO) Coalition.
Larry Carlile received a B.S. in zoology and a M.S. in wildlife management from the University of Georgia. Upon graduation, Larry worked at Tall Timbers Research Station, Florida where he became interested in longleaf pine conservation, prescribed fire, and the monitoring, management and recovery of the federally-listed red-cockaded woodpecker. Larry currently is employed by the U.S. Army at Fort Stewart, in Hinesville, Georgia, and is responsible for conducting monitoring programs for the installation’s endangered species.
Diana Churchill grew up in coastal Georgia and developed a love for its unique habitats and bird life. She spent 17 years living in New England where she was active with the Brookline Bird Club. Returning to Georgia more than eight years ago, she has led field trips for Ogeechee Audubon, Wilderness Southeast, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, works at Wild Birds Unlimited in Savannah, and writes a bi-weekly column for the Savannah Morning News.
Cameron Cox is a birding specialist for Nikon Sport Optics. For the last eight years he has lived the “bird bum” life-style, working on research and monitoring projects from Cape May to California. He has a particular fondness for shorebirds, gulls and terns and loves to teach identification tricks for these often difficult groups. He currently resides in Seattle.
John “Crawfish” Crawford is currently an educator and naturalist with the University of Georgia’s Marine Education Center and Aquarium on Skidaway Island in Savannah, Georgia. An avid, life-long naturalist and native of Savannah, he has been teaching natural history and leading field trips for over forty years. In 1973, Crawfish co-founded Wilderness Southeast, a local environmental school, and has led wilderness expeditions throughout the southeastern United States, West Indies and Central America. Georgia’s barrier islands, with their waters, beaches, forest, marshes and diverse wildlife have remained his favorite habitats for study.
Becci Curry has spent 15 years as an elementary teacher in Camden County. For eight years, she has taught gifted education in St. Marys. She has an Education Specialist degree and is a National Board Certified teacher. She has won many awards, among them, Georgia Association of Marine Education Teacher of the year, GSTA Teacher of the Year and was a Finalist for the Georgia State Teacher of the year in 2003. She has been a volunteer in the Adopt a Wetland and Phytoplankton Network. She is a Project WILD, WET, and Learning Tree facilitator. She authored a curriculum guide to the book, Georgia’s Amazing Coast. She was awarded a scholarship to the Audubon Camp in Maine by the Coastal Georgia Audubon Society.
Chris Depkin is a wildlife biologist who has worked for both the University of Georgia and the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, researching birds in distant lands such as the central Pacific as well as in coastal Georgia. He has studied species as diverse as bower birds in Australia and New Guinea and albatross on the outer Hawaiian Islands. Chris currently volunteers at Harris Neck NWR where he assists with ongoing wood stork field studies; he has also helped Georgia DNR with a pilot effort to assess painted bunting populations. He is now a permanent McIntosh County resident, and last year built his own home next to the refuge.
John Galvani is currently president of the Coastal Georgia Audubon Society. Retired from high school teaching and university work in Massachusetts, he now divides his time between Cape Cod and the Georgia coast. He devotes much of his time and energy to birding in Massachusetts and Georgia, and is a member of the Georgia Ornithological Society and the Massachusetts Audubon Society. He conducts Beginning Birding classes for Coastal Georgia Audubon, participates in the National Marsh Bird Monitoring Program conducted by USGS, and takes part in Audubon and DNR birding surveys.
Georgia Graves is an award-winning environmental educator. Growing up on the Georgia coast inspired her love of the sea. That, coupled with her love of animals as well as her drive to protect and ensure longevity of their habitats, was inspirational in defining her goal as an educator, which is to instill the desire in each of her students to preserve all habitats on our planet for both wildlife and humans. Today, Georgia is a sought-after, independent marine science educator/consultant. She is a familiar sight in the field, surrounded by children and adults as they eagerly uncover the mysteries of the ocean and estuaries, whether hidden in the water, under the grains of sand, or within the mucky mud that so many critters call home. She developed and coordinates teacher workshops on Georgia’s sea turtles, shorebirds, marine mammals, and coastal ecology for the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve, and leads programs for school groups and for tourism groups on St. Simons, Jekyll, Cumberland, and Sapelo Islands .
Captain Rene Heidt is a naturalist and artist who has been running Tybee waters since she was a girl. She is the owner and operator of Sundial Charters on Tybee Island, GA and has been conducting interpretive nature tours for over ten years. “When asked, Heidt can expound effortlessly on anything from the mating habits of fiddler crabs to the migratory habits of warblers” – Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Steve Hein brings his passion for falconry, artistic talent, business skills, and a tremendous sense of fun to his work as Director of The Center for Wildlife Education and The Lamar Q Ball, Jr. Raptor Center at Georgia Southern University. Mr. Hein spearheaded the center’s development in 1997, and under his leadership it has soared to great heights, currently serving approximately 40,000 individuals every year. Mr. Hein holds a degree in Business Administration from Georgia Southern University. He holds federal and state licenses as a Master Falconer, as well as permits to rehabilitate birds of prey. In addition to the falconry, Mr. Hein also spends time as a freelance wildlife artist and has received numerous awards including: the Georgia Governor’s “Artist of Excellence” award; 1987-88 Georgia Wildlife Management Area Stamp; and 1986, 1987, & 1990 Georgia Ducks Unlimited Artist of the Year. Steve Hein has become a popular face around the Southeast as he travels with the animals to provide entertaining and educational wildlife programs before corporate, civic and conservation organizations. His programs are wildly popular among children, adults and the young at heart!
Jerry Hightower discovered very early in life that the natural world was the best classroom. Throughout his early life, the fields, forests, streams and wetlands of the Chattahoochee River Corridor north of Atlanta nurtured a joy for discovery and learning. Today this nationally recognized naturalist and environmental educator shares this joy through educator training and gardening for wildlife workshops throughout the southeast. He works with dozens of agencies and organizations and thousands of schools. Volunteering with the Georgia and National Wildlife Federations, Jerry pioneered the Wildlife Habitat Certification Program in Georgia and initiated the effort to create Wildlife Habitats as learning centers at schools. The National Park Service at the Chattahoochee River has been his employer for 31 years where he serves as Senior Naturalist and Environmental Education Coordinator.
Malcolm Hodges has worked in Georgia as an ecologist for 17 years, the last 14 for The Nature Conservancy. He began birding at the age of 10 on the Mississippi coast, and has held Big Day records in three states. Malcolm played a role in establishing the first gay bird club in the United States, The Gaggle, which boasts a membership of over 80 birders. Malcolm lives in Riverdale, Ga., with his partner of 12 years, Keith Poole.
Steve Holzman received a B.S. in Zoology from Southern Illinois University and a M.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Georgia, where he studied the population dynamics of coyotes in south-central Georgia. He has worked on endangered gray bats in Alabama, black ducks in New Jersey, northern spotted owls in Oregon. He has been an Information Technology Specialist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since 1994 and currently works at the Georgia Ecological Services office in Athens, GA. He has been an avid birder since 1986, and has been known to chase northern owls in -50 degree weather and Texas rarities in the sweltering Lower Rio Grande Valley. He currently does the website for the Coastal Birding Festival, so he can put whatever he wants in his bio. No one will probably notice. Steve boasts a North American life list of over 2000, but doesn't like to draw attention to it. He is currently in Bejing, competing for the gold in Mens synchronized walking. He can identify any microbrewed beer by smell, and can tell you which hops were used in finishing. He is fluent in both Mandarin Chinese and Esperanto. He recently moved from his missile silo in South Dakota and currently lives in a undisclosed location near the border of Upper Hiccupistan. He takes frequent overseas trips at the request of the government and really can't say any more about that.
Dorset Hurley is the Research Coordinator/Senior Marine Biologist for Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve. As a research scientist & instructor, he has been involved in research of application in coastal Georgia for the last 25 years. He lives & works on Sapelo Island. His current program emphases are with exotic species control, coastal habitat restoration (maritime forests) and the development of science programs that yield information on best management practices within an adaptive management approach for the island.
Stephen Ingraham is the Birding and Observation Product Specialist for Carl Zeiss Sport Optics. He is well known from his years as editor of the Tools of the Trade section in Birding magazine, his frequent articles in Wildbird, Birder's World and British Birdwatch magazines, and his appearances at American Birding Association conventions and birding events around the country. Steve is the founder and editor of Better View Desired and betterviewdesired.com on the World Wide Web.
Marge Inness is a retired teacher who taught technology at university and secondary school levels. She helped many Boston Public School teachers improve their technology skills in formal and informal education settings. Marge has been involved in many environmental education projects emphasizing the use of technology and has become especially interested in the role of PDAs ( personal digital assistants) in education and science.
Kayak guide and naturalist Cindy Janus is co-owner of Southeast Adventure Outfitters, based on St. Simons Island. She has been leading kayak trips in coastal Georgia for over 11 years and holds a bachelor's degree in marine science from Savannah State University.
Gene Keferl is a professor emeritus of biology from Coastal Georgia Community College where he taught for 30 years. He has been bird watching in Georgia for 14 years. One of his goals is to find 300 bird species in Glynn County; consequently, he has been birding in almost every corner of the county. Gene enjoys doing various bird counts. He is active in the Coastal Georgia Audubon Society. Gene, with his background in biology and his natural curiosity, is an excellent leader.
Adam Kent has been fascinated with nature his whole life. Since 1983, he has been leading natural history tours to wild places from Alaska to the tip of South America. In southern Mexico, recordings he made led to raising the status of the Nava's Wren from a subspecies to a full species. Back in Florida, he created Bird Detective, a bird-identification activity guide (see URL below). Adam is employed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as a Wildlife Legacy Biologist. In his free time he is helping form a Young Naturalists Club in North Florida and is expanding the Bird Detective booklet into a full-size book.
Tim Keyes is currently a Wildlife Biologist for the Non-Game Program of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. He focuses on bird research, monitoring and habitat management on state and private land and is also involved with bird education initiatives such as International Migratory Bird Day and the Youth Birding Competition. Mr. Keyes also assists with various projects such as the completion of the Breeding Bird Atlas. He completed a Master of Science degree in biogeography, studying forest-nesting migratory songbirds in the southern Appalachians. Before graduate school Tim had the opportunity to study birds in Minnesota, Massachusetts and Portugal.
Carol Lambert is an experienced birder and field trip leader. She is director of the Newman Wetlands Center in Clayton County and is the GOS Conservation Committee Chair. Originally from Maryland, Carol resides in Tucker, GA with her husband, Jeff Sewell.
Bill Lotz has been an avid birder for the last eight years. Currently, Bill serves as 1 st Vice President of the Georgia Ornithological Society. He has traveled to Newfoundland, Washington, Minnesota, California, Texas, Arizona, Panama, and every county in Georgia in the last few years to see birds. Before retiring in 1997, Bill owned and operated a bicycle shop, a sandwich shop and a travel agency, all in Atlanta. A native of Virginia, he moved to Atlanta in 1972, a year after graduating from the College of William and Mary. He and his wife, Condit, reside in the Chastain Park area of Atlanta.
An eleven-year resident of Jekyll Island, naturalist Frank Mirasola coordinates the UGA-sponsored Tidelands Nature Walk Programs on the Island. Additionally he is a Beach Ecology instructor at the 4-H Education Center and conducts loggerhead turtle walks, beach, marsh and maritime forest walks. He was recently installed as President of the Jekyll Island Citizens Association.
Dr. John Parrish was a co-author of the Annotated Checklist of Georgia Birds, has published numerous scientific articles, has been the recipient of research grants to support his research, and has presented his research at state, national and international scientific meetings. He is a life member of the Society of Sigma Xi, the American Ornithologists’ Union, the Kansas Ornithological Society, and the Georgia Ornithological Society. John has been active in the USGS Breeding Bird Survey program, assisted with the Georgia Breeding Bird Atlas project, and is an active participant in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count program. He is an avid birder and photographer, and you won’t see him in the field without both his binoculars and telephoto-equipped SLR camera (digital, in recent years).
A three-person team consisting of Charles Ratliff and Chris and Jan Pitman operates the Jekyll Island Banding Station (JIBS). Chris and Jan first volunteered at JIBS in 1991 and have been volunteering every year since. Chris acquired a Master Bander permit from the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory in 2000 after previously holding a sub-permit under Master Bander Doris Cohrs. The operation of JIBS transitioned over to this team in 2000 and 2001, allowing the continuation of the station. 2007 marks the 31 st year of banding neo-tropical migrants at JIBS.
John Reed is an award-winning professional photographer, who has been published in many state and national magazines. His aim is to capture the beauty of nature and share this joy with others. This enthusiasm has made him a popular instructor of photography and digital darkroom. He is a member of several Photography clubs and Associations including the North American Nature Photographers Association and the Jacksonville Camera Club. Among his many exhibitions and awards, his photography has been selected for the North American Nature Photographers’ Association “Showcase of Images” in 2007 and he has been a finalist in the Natures Best Photography competition for the last three years.
Gordon Rogers is the Satilla RIVERKEEPER®. His association with the Satilla River began at age 5. As a teenager he canoed on the river many times, leading a week-long cleanup project on the river as his Eagle Scout project. He has conducted research on sturgeons in the river, and has fished the bars, channels, and shoals of its estuary both professionally and for recreation. He believes that a healthy, properly functioning environment is vital to the economic future and quality of life of those living and working in south Georgia, and that our wetlands, rivers, and underground water-supply systems are key features of proper ecological and economic function.
Cathy J. Sakas earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Masters of Science Education from Armstrong Atlantic State University. Cathy currently serves as the Education Coordinator of NOAA Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary where she is a NOAA scientific diver, submersible pilot and aquanaut. Before coming to Gray’s Reef, Cathy was a professional interpretive naturalist for over 25 years, leading wilderness expeditions throughout the southeastern USA, Caribbean and Central America. During that period she created, wrote and hosted two five-part nature series for Georgia Public Television called Coastal Naturalist and co-produced a one-hour special documentary on Georgia’s barrier islands called Secret Seashores. She also hosted and served as the naturalist consultant for a nature series of 66 shows for Turner South called The Natural South. Cathy enjoys any opportunity to help others experience Georgia’s fantastic coast.
Although born into a family full of outdoor adventurers, Chuck Saleeby’s true birding life began in college. After participating in a research project involving listening to birds at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1993 and then his first birding trip on Kennesaw Mountain in 1994, he was officially hooked. Chuck has helped with and led many walks at Kennesaw Mountain since 2001. He has also enjoyed leading walks to places such as Brasstown Bald, the Kennesaw NB marsh, Cochran Shoals along the Chattahoochee River, Pine Log WMA, Berry College, Piedmont NWR, and others. Chuck has participated in many Christmas Bird Counts, Colonial Coast Birding & Nature Festival birding contests, several Breeding Bird Atlas blocks, and a current Breeding Bird Survey route. He lives in Kennesaw, GA with his wife and two young daughters.
Dr. Bob Sargent has worked as the natural resources manager for Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Georgia, for the past 11 years, and has been a biology instructor at Georgia Military College and Macon State College since 2004. A former president of Oconee Rivers Audubon Society and Ocmulgee Audubon Society, Bob has been leading birding trips in Georgia for 15 years. He received his M.S. from the University of Florida and his Ph.D. (studying the nesting success of neotropical migrants) from the University of Georgia. He is the current president of the Georgia Ornithological Society, and co-editor of that society’s journal, The Oriole.
An avid birder and experienced field trip leader, Jeff Sewell is a former editor of the “From the Field” section of the GOS journal The Oriole and has been the compiler of the GOS Georgia Rare Bird Alert since 1994. He is a Georgia native and resides in Tucker, GA with his wife, Carol Lambert.
Paul Sykes is a retired wildlife research biologist formerly with the U.S. Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Athens, Georgia field station. After graduating from North Carolina State University, he worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1967 to 1992, Biological Survey (1993-1995),and finally with the U.S. Geological Survey (1996-2007). A life-long birder with an emphasis on North American species, Paul holds a position in the Top 10 Birders of North America list, with an American Birding Association (ABA) Area Life List of 853 species. Some of his major contributions to the birding world include recording for North America the first and only sighting of the Yellow-throated Bunting, first recorded nestings of the Whooper Swan and Brambling and, with others, the first nesting of the White-tailed Eagle, and documenting the first record of the Mangrove Swallow. He is co-author (2003), with Giff Beaton and John Parrish, of the Annotated Checklist of Georgia Birds, Occasional Publication No. 14, published by the Georgia Ornithological Society. Paul, in retirement, continues his study (now in its eighth year) on annual survival in the eastern population of the Painted Bunting along the south Atlantic coasts, North Carolina to Florida.
Clay Taylor is a Naturalist Market Manager for Swarovski Optik N.A. He was the founder of the Rochester (NY) Hawk Banding Project and founding President of the Connecticut Butterfly Association. Clay has also served as President of the Mattabeseck Audubon Society in Middletown, Connecticut, and was a member of the Connecticut Rare Records Committee, Connecticut Ornithological Society. He conducted the world's first Digiscoping Big Day (photographing 89 species) during New Jersey Audubon Society's 2005 World Series of Birding. When the Digi Big Day category was officially added to the event in 2006, his Swarovski Digiscoping Hawks team won with a total of 124 bird species identifiably photographed.
Whether Lydia Thompson is talking about banding or drawing birds, her major focus is to intertwine her bird studies and her art. After graduating from Mississippi State University, she worked in advertising. Realizing that advertising was not for her, she took a year to travel and learn about birds and drawing. Since that time, she has traveled throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico, finally settling in the Golden Isles of coastal Georgia. Here, she continues with her studies of birds and the art of intaglio print. She is a popular columnist for the Jekyll Golden Islander, and preservation and conservation of birds and their habitats are her major concerns.
Denese Van Dyne is one of the BirdJam partners, the three of whom met as board members of the Atlanta Audubon Society. Following her 25-year career in high-tech marketing, she is delighted to spend her days talking with birders and "having" to attend birding festivals for work! She began birding in Colorado where the shortgrass prairie with the "bank" calls of Common Nighthawks draws her still. The songs and calls of Sandhill Cranes, Whippoorwills, Wood Thrush, Fish Crows and Bobolinks are among her favorites.
Dan Vickers , an avid naturalist, has been birding and doing bird photography since 2001. He has photographed over 320 species of birds in Georgia and over 500 throughout the US. He graduated from the University of Georgia with a BS degree in Forest Resources and currently works for a non-profit foundation in Tucker, Georgia. He currently serves as Secretary of the Georgia Ornithological Society.
Steven J. Wagner, Ph.D teaches Anatomy and Environmental Science at Savannah College of Art and Design . Steve has been birding for over 20 years, mostly in SC, GA and FL, but has also traveled to and birded in the western U.S. (AZ, CA, CO, TX and WA), New Zealand, Europe and Mexico. Over the years he has participated in numerous Christmas Bird Counts and North American Migration Counts, serving as compiler for the Clemson and Long Cane CBCs and the Oconee County NAMC in SC. He has been running Breeding Bird Survey routes in SC since 1986 and has begun running a couple in Georgia as well. Since 1998, he has served on the South Carolina Bird Records Committee and is the current state coordinator for the Breeding Bird Survey.
Russ Wigh has been birding in Georgia for over 25 years with a particular interest in seabirds. He is an award-winning photographer and has taught classes on wildlife photography. His work has appeared in magazines and journals devoted to birds, and it also hangs in homes and offices in the Savannah area where he makes his home. He has written species accounts for the Breeding Bird Atlas of Georgia and has contributed several articles to the Georgia Ornithological Society publication, The Oriole.
Gene Wilkinson is a native of Glennville, GA and has lived there all his life except for four years of military service. He is a retired Georgia Dept. of Transportation Engineer and now lives the good life enjoying the outdoors while observing nature and all its wonders, especially in the Altamaha and coastal environs in S. E. Georgia. Gene is currently associated with the city of Glennville as a host for bird-watching activities at the Glennville Water Treatment Facility, which is a unique birding area with a great diversity and number of birds for each season – 167 different species have been recorded to date at the facility.
Sheila Willis , of Waycross, Georgia, is the founder of Native American-Naturalist Talks & Tours, holds a B.S. in Biology and has over 30 years experience as a park ranger-naturalist in all types of parks and refuges around the country. Of Cherokee descent, Sheila has also served as a lecturer and field trip leader on nature and Native American culture for multiple educational facilities throughout the South. She has worked as a biologist for a variety of agencies and conducted private bird and botanical tours. Sheila has held leadership positions in many conservation, cultural, & tourism organizations and is the long-time director of the Christmas Bird Counts for the Okefenokee Swamp and Cumberland Island areas. She is an avid photographer and writer with many noteworthy contributions to her credit.
Brad Winn is the Manager of the Coastal Nongame Program of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and is based in Brunswick. Brad oversees the state's projects regarding the maintenance and recovery of imperiled coastal wildlife populations, including marine mammals, sea turtles, seabirds, wading birds, and shorebirds. His lifelong interest in shorebirds has come to fruition in recent years with involvement in projects studying and protecting long-distant migrant shorebirds on their wintering, staging, and breeding sites from Tierra Del Fuego in southern South America, to the arctic tundra of Eastern Canada and North Slope of Alaska. Georgia supports shorebirds in every month of the year, and is particularly valuable to wintering and migrant shorebirds.