Tour Leader

David Ascanio, a Venezuelan birder and naturalist, has spent over 39 years guiding birding tours throughout his native country, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica, the Orinoco and Amazon River basins, Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, the Guianas, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the Lesser Antilles, Cuba, Chile, and Panama. He is especially interested in bird vocalizations and has a private library containing voices of more than 70% of all the birds of Venezuela. David combines superb birding skills with an astonishing command of bird vocalizations. He has published a book for children about bird songs and coauthored the descriptions of two new species, the Rio Orinoco Spinetail and the Delta Amacuro Softtail. David has also published numerous papers about the birds of the llanos (plains), Orinoco River Island species, and the pan-tepui endemic species on which he has become an authority. He is the senior author of the Field Guide to the Birds of Venezuela (2017). David is an excellent communicator, has a great sense of humor, and is tireless in helping others find birds and wildlife. These traits have made him one of the most popular naturalists/guides in the Neotropics.

Scott Baker’s interest in wildlife began early on while growing up in the leafy, outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne which, although a highly urbanized environment, retained significant tracts of remnant natural woodland. It was here at the age of 11 that he got his first pair of binoculars and began what was to become a lifetime quest to identify all the birds in an ever-expanding neighborhood. By the age of 15 he was running weekly bird walks and talks and became a founding member of the very successful Yarran Dheran Junior Field Naturalists Club. In 1988 he was named the Nunawading Young Citizen of the Year in recognition of his contribution to natural history and conservation. Pursuing mutual interests in life science and fine art, Scott went on to hold various roles in business, education, and environmental consultancy. This has facilitated opportunities to explore the wild places and wildlife of Australia and beyond. In 30 plus years he has traveled extensively throughout the continent with a major focus on birds. He loves the rare and sometimes challenging, cryptic varieties but also shorebirds and seabirds, having spent many days at sea. To date he has recorded (and photographed) almost all of the regular and resident land birds and pelagic species likely in the country. Scott has a passion for wildlife, not just birds, and conducts studies and regular surveys for mammals, reptiles, and frogs. His fieldwork will often involve additional nocturnal spotlighting sessions, requiring late nights and early mornings to maximize the “tetrapod” options, when possible. Scott is a well-regarded member of the Australian birding community, a moderator on several birdwatching forums and rare bird committees, and, since 2017, has run birdwatching and nature tours within Australia and parts of southeast Asia. He currently resides in Victoria but frequently interstate or abroad.

Virgilio Beltrán Jordá holds a degree in Zoology from the University of Valencia and a Master’s in Environmental Education, recognized by the IUCN, from the University of Cádiz. Throughout his professional career, he has accumulated teaching experience in biology and geology in secondary education, has designed and implemented educational programs in the fields of food and health, and has taught postgraduate socio-environmental educator courses for a private school in Valencia. During the last 20 years, Virgilio has focused on the fields of environmental education, rural tourism, and family tourism experiences in nature, through ACTIO Activities Educativas SL. He has developed environmental programs for schoolchildren and family tourism products in nature related to the ACTIO Rural Hostel, and has worked in consulting and in the design of touristic and environmental routes and tourism promotion materials for different municipalities in the Valencia Region and other provinces in Spain. In 2013, he founded a birdwatching company, ACTIO Birding, where his professional skills merge with his hobby and knowledge of birds. ACTIO Birding explores new possibilities of experiential tourism combining birdwatching with wine-tasting, cultural activities, and family tourism. Virgilio works as a tour leader and birding guide in travel programs organized by ACTIO Birding, and conducts fam trips, press trips, and other promotional visits in the Valencia Region. He also acts as a consultant, lecturer, and assistant at international birdwatching fairs on issues related to birding in the Valencia Region. Virgilio is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bird Watching Guides Association of the Valencia Region and serves as First Vice President of Tour & Kids (Family Tourist Product Club of the Valencian Community). In September 2013, he joined SER Viajeros Comunitat Valenciana (the tourism magazine of the Spanish radio station CADENA SER) as an expert collaborator in everything related to birds and nature, including where to observe birds in the Valencia Region, birdwatching news, and environmental education.

Alison Beringer is Associate Professor of Classics and Humanities at Montclair State University, where she teaches courses in literary history, women’s studies, and medieval literature and culture. She holds the M.A. in Classics from the University of Victoria and the Ph.D. in German Studies from Princeton University. Her scholarly research focuses on the transmission and illustration of Latin and German literature in the medieval and early modern periods. Her first book, The Sight of Semiramis, appeared in 2016, and was followed in 2020 by the publication of Gender Bonds, Gender Binds. Her current project is a study of the place of monumental sculpture in the life and literature of the late Middle Ages. A native of Canada, she lives in northern New Jersey and birds widely in the Americas and Europe, most often with her husband, Rick Wright.

Mark Brazil is a frequent expedition leader of small, land-based, wildlife-focused expeditions in Africa, South America, South Asia, and East Asia. He is a regular lecturer on expedition cruise vessels traveling widely from the Arctic to Antarctica and many destinations between. He is best known for his extensive experience of birding in Japan and for his many publications. Born and educated in the UK, Mark has degrees in Biology, English Literature, and Psychology. He has had careers in conservation biology, in natural history television (20+ years), as a university lecturer (9 years), and now works mainly as a freelance author, editor, and wildlife-expedition leader. He has lived in England, Scotland, and New Zealand, and is now a long-term resident of Hokkaido, northern Japan, where he and his wife, Mayumi, live in the Akan–Mashu National Park. Mark began birding as a child in the UK, studied avian behavioral-ecology for his PhD, and has since birded on every continent. He is fascinated by the amazing diversity of avian behavior. He began leading nature tours in 1980, became involved in the expedition cruise industry in 1998, and since 2007 he has worked exclusively in the wildlife and adventure travel industry as a consultant, expedition leader, guide, and lecturer. In the last few years, he has been increasingly involved in outdoor guide training in Japan. His extensive travels across the length and breadth of Japan since 1980 have given him intimate knowledge of that country’s birdlife, natural history, and culture. He is well-known for his numerous articles and books relating to the region. Mark’s most recent books are: Japan: The Natural History of an Asian Archipelago (2022) and Wild Hokkaido: A Guidebook to the National Parks and other Wild Places of Eastern Hokkaido (2021). His past books include: Helm Field Guide to the Birds of East Asia; The Nature of Japan; Helm Field Guide to the Birds of Japan; and A Birdwatcher’s Guide to Japan.

Mayumi Brazil is a National Government Licensed Interpreter Guide. She was born and educated in Hokkaido, Japan. Her interests include Japanese Literature, film, and contemporary Japanese culture. She enjoys cross-cultural experiences and particularly enjoys explaining her own culture to others. She is self-confident in a multi-cultural environment, organized, and attentive to detail and customer needs. She is motivated to provide a positive experience for those with whom she travels. Mayumi has worked in various capacities in the travel and service sector. Since 2009, she has worked as a fixer and an interpreter, traveling extensively throughout Japan from Hokkaido to Okinawa with clients ranging from BBC Radio to groups and families. Her overseas travels have taken her to North and South America, Europe, East Africa, South and East Asia, New Zealand, and Australia. Mayumi has worked on expedition cruise ships as a lecturer and cultural demonstrator around Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, and for various companies including: Abercrombie & Kent (2009, 2016, 2023), Noble Caledonia (2010), Orion Expeditions (2011 & 2012), Silversea Cruises (2014), Albatros Expeditions (2019), and Zegrahm Expeditions (2010–2020). On land, she has co-led wildlife-focused expeditions with her husband, ornithologist and expedition leader Dr. Mark Brazil, in Bhutan, Brazil, India, Japan, Nepal, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, and Zambia, and has worked as an interpreter/guide in Japan for various companies catering to photographers, naturalists, and birdwatchers. Mayumi and her husband live in Teshikaga, east Hokkaido.

Max Breckenridge was born in the UK, but has lived virtually his entire life in Sydney, Australia. At age 12, his passion for birds was fostered when his parents took him and his brother out of school for 10 weeks to travel across Australia. After completing high school in Sydney, Max drove solo from Darwin to Broome, birding all the way, and spent the next month volunteering at the world-renowned Broome Bird Observatory. Max completed a Bachelor of Biodiversity & Conservation at Macquarie University in 2018. He has birded across every state and almost every corner of the Australian landmass. He has an excellent eye, and especially ear, for Australian birds. Some of his birding exploits in Australia include two separate trips to the remote rainforests of Iron Range National Park on Queensland’s Cape York (including a fly-in-fly-out trip during the middle of the wet season, when he spent two weeks under a tarp in order to see some of the key migrants from Papua New Guinea). Max is at home birding in the Old World and has spent the last decade covering as much of it as possible. He is incredibly passionate about wildlife conservation. In addition to guiding, he has spent much of his spare time working for BirdLife Australia, monitoring and researching the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater, including working on several captive-releases of zoo-bred individuals. Max receives immense pleasure from birding and showing birds to others. He is currently living on Lake Macquarie, north of Sydney, with his partner, Fernanda.

Rob Broeren has been an amateur astronomer for over 30 years, traveling with telescopes throughout the United States, Peru, and New Zealand, and has published articles in Astronomy Technology Today. Professionally, he works in the aerospace industry. Early in his career he worked on the International Space Station, specializing in thermal propulsion, and then the Delta Rocket program that launches satellites. His rocket scientist journey has continued in his current work on the NASA Space Launch System program whose goal is to make a permanent moon colony and eventually land the first astronauts on Mars. Rob has a degree in Physics (Astronomy/Cosmology) from UC Irvine, and Mechanical Engineering degrees from Oregon State University as well as UCLA. He is an avid bird photographer and currently lives in Huntsville, Alabama. 

Erik Bruhnke has loved birds since he was a child looking at chickadees. In 2008 he graduated from Northland College in Wisconsin with a Natural Resources degree. Erik taught field ornithology at Northland College for three semesters. Between 2009 and 2014, he spent his summers conducting field research focused on breeding bird transects in Upper Michigan, point counts for a breeding bird atlas in Minnesota and Wisconsin’s Northwoods, vegetation and breeding bird surveys throughout wind farms in North Dakota’s prairie potholes, and cavity-nesting surveys in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. A devoted raptor nerd, he is drawn to hawkwatches. He worked as an interpreter for six 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. 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. When not leading birding tours, Erik often leads field trips and speaks at birding festivals. He also enjoys hiking, kayaking, cross-country skiing, and just being out in the snow. In his free time he loves to cook and bake.

Kevin Burke is originally from the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. He grew up running around in the woods and trails of Shenandoah National Park. His family spent many summers camping and hiking in the park. One of Kevin’s favorite activities was jumping in the river and turning over every rock to see what was underneath. This eventually earned him the nickname “Hellgrammite Kid.” This early exposure to the natural world has vaulted into a lifelong obsession with the outdoors. Kevin was introduced to birding while spending summers in Rhode Island at his grandmother’s house. She would point out all the feeder birds and help him identify them. These early encounters helped foster a love for birds. An early Ornithology class at Hocking College in Ohio rekindled his love for birds. He has been birding every day since. He went on to get a Bachelor of Science in Ecotourism and Conservation Ecology from the University of Idaho. Kevin has been involved with leading bird trips in some capacity for almost 20 years. He has led birding trips all throughout the United States, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic. His birding journeys have also taken him to some spectacular locations such as Portugal, Colombia, The Bahamas, and Canada. This is truly a lifelong obsession. He currently resides with his family in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Kevin’s wife and two kids also enjoy birding. They have fun kayaking, hiking, and camping in the mountains that surround their home. One of their favorite activities is jumping on the paddle board and kayaks and leisurely floating the French Broad River near their house.

Herbert Byaruhanga’s passion for birding and nature was cultivated in the picturesque Rutoto Village, where as a child, he observed and fed eagles near his home. His love for wildlife led him to pursue professional training, and he quickly excelled as the top candidate in an intensive Nature Guide training program at Lake Mburo National Park. Recognizing his exceptional potential, Birdlife International sponsored Herbert to further his expertise in South Africa, where he became a certified trainer of bird guides for Uganda and the broader East African region. Herbert holds a Bachelor's Degree in Tourism Management from Makerere University, alongside numerous certificates and diplomas in tourism, guiding, and leadership. Herbert's contributions to Uganda’s birding community are unparalleled. He is the visionary founder of the Uganda Bird Guides Club, Uganda Safari Guides Association, and the Uganda Women Birders Club. In December 2023, he successfully organized the inaugural International Conference for Women Birders in Kampala and is actively preparing for the second edition in Costa Rica, scheduled for September 2025. Known affectionately as “The Father of Birding in Uganda,” Herbert has trained over 90% of the country’s bird guides, gaining him the nickname “Mr. Product Knowledge.” In 2001, Herbert established Bird Uganda Safaris, a premier birding and wildlife safari company. His extensive experience has made him a sought-after speaker at birding and conservation conferences worldwide, particularly at prominent birding festivals in the United States, where he is a regular guest speaker. Herbert’s expertise spans the East African region, where he continues to lead birding tours across Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda, now supported by his sons, Mark Bankunda and Davis Rukundo, who are celebrated among Uganda’s top birding guides.

Fernando Díaz, or “Feña,” showed a special interest in birds that lived around his neighborhood during his childhood. He grew up birding in the fields and wetlands of Lampa, a few kilometers from Santiago de Chile, where he developed his bird observation abilities at an early age. Feña has strong skills for recognizing birds by song. His first serious approach to bird study was as a volunteer participant in waterfowl censuses and bird banding. This was the catalyst that led him to leave his landscaper position in order to pursue his true passions, birds and nature. Feña has traveled extensively throughout most of the habitats of Chile and several countries in South America birding and studying birds. Fernando also spent five months banding birds in the U.S. and Canada. He enjoys spending time birding in the field, especially in the high Andes of Chile, where he co-leads a study on the charismatic Diademed Sandpiper-Plover. Feña is also one of the eBird-Chile reviewers, and he is involved in several other bird projects with the Chilean NGO Red de Observadores de Aves de Chile (the Chilean Birders Network). Feña leads bird and wildlife photography trips in Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Brazil. During his travels he enjoys showing and teaching tour participants about birds, as well as all other aspects of nature.

Rafael Galvez has been birding and illustrating birds since childhood, a dual passion that developed when his family moved from Peru to South Florida. Always with a sketchpad in hand, he has traveled throughout the U.S., Latin America, and Eurasia in pursuit of birds. He served several years as a board member of the BirdLife International affiliate in the Republic of Georgia, developing educational and conservation programs.  He gained knowledge of the Caucasus region while directing a series of records and documentary shorts on the ancient chants of the Georgian nation. During that period he also produced retrospective books and catalogs on the works of Russian realist painters. He has combined his love of art, education, and birds while collaborating in several publications, including a field guide to Raptors and Owls of Georgia (Caucasus), which he illustrated and coauthored. After working with raptor research along the Black Sea, he returned to South Florida to spearhead a new phase for the Florida Keys Hawkwatch migration monitoring project, where he has participated as director. As chair of citizen science and IBA monitoring at Tropical Audubon Society in Miami, he has reached out to underserved communities by providing opportunities for the greater appreciation of birds and Florida habitats. Currently, he lives in Homestead, spends much time in the Everglades, serves on the Florida Ornithological Society’s Records Committee, and is on the Leica Sport Optics Pro Staff. He loves sharing his passion for birds with audiences of all ages, and has been a guide and teacher for over 15 years. You can find some of his latest sketches and articles about painting in the field at his blog, GalvezBirds.com.

Mark S. Garland is a naturalist who has been sharing his enthusiasm for nature with others professionally for over 40 years. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Maryland’s College of Agriculture. His work experience includes six years as a Ranger/Naturalist with the National Park Service, 17 years with the Audubon Naturalist Society (ANS), now known as Nature Forward, and four years with New Jersey Audubon Society’s Cape May Bird Observatory. He has also led tours for Smithsonian Journeys, Massachusetts Audubon Society, Riveredge Nature Center, and Betchart Expeditions. For 14 years he taught week-long birding classes in Cape May for the Road Scholar program by Elderhostel each spring and fall. He teaches one or two sessions each summer at the Hog Island Audubon Camp in Maine. From 1984–2001 and from 2006–2016 he planned and operated the Nature Travel Program for the ANS.  He has also organized and led many private tours. Mark is the author of the book Watching Nature: A Mid-Atlantic Natural History (1997). Mark founded the Cape Charles, Virginia, Monarch butterfly research project in 1995, and from 2015–2022 he was Director of the Monarch Monitoring Project in Cape May. He has co-authored three scientific papers on the Cape Charles Monarch migration project and one on the Cape May Monarch studies. From early 2015 he authored the “Birders Question Mark,” Q&A Column for Bird Watchers’ Digest. For over 15 years he appeared regularly on the weekly radio program Metro Connection on Washington D.C.’s public radio station WAMU. He has written regular columns for the Cape May Star and Wave, for birdcapemay.org, and for the Audubon Naturalist News; one of the latter pieces was awarded the Excellence in Mass Media Award by the American Association of University Women in 1995. Mark is a frequent speaker at various events, ranging from nature and birding festivals to bird club monthly meetings. In March 2019 he was awarded the Paul Bartsch Award for Distinguished Contributions to Natural History from the Audubon Naturalist Society.

Brian Gibbons grew up in suburban Dallas where he began exploring the wild world in local creeks and parks. Chasing butterflies and any animal that was unfortunate enough to cross paths with the Gibbons boys occupied his childhood. A wooden bird feeder kit sparked a flame that was stoked by a gift of the Golden Guide and family camping trips to Texas state parks. Thirty years ago Brian attended two VENT camps for young birders. Birds are now his primary interest, but all things wild continue to captivate him. After college, Brian undertook a variety of field biology research jobs that have taken him to the Caribbean, the Bering Sea, and the land of the midnight sun, arctic Alaska. He enjoys working with kids, hoping to spark environmental awareness through birds. For many years Brian’s field research has involved bird banding. His most amazing recoveries were a female Wilson’s Warbler that had been banded in Alaska and was captured by Brian in Colorado, and a Sooty Tern that perished after a hurricane on the Texas coast; it had plied the Gulf of Mexico and the oceans of the world for 24 years. Brian’s recreational bird-seeking has taken him to Machu Picchu in Peru, the Great Wall in China, the plains of East Africa, and the Himalayas in Nepal. Brian leads birding trips in the United States, Central America, the Caribbean, and Europe. As well as being a fanatical birder, he loves capturing birds with photography. He lives in Tucson, Arizona with his wife, Lacrecia Johnson, and their son, Grayson.

Paul Greenfield grew up near New York City and became interested in birds as a child. He received his B.F.A. from Temple University, where he was a fine arts major at the Tyler School of Art. Since 1972, he has lived in Ecuador where his fascination for birds and art has culminated in the completion of 20 years of work illustrating The Birds of Ecuador (Cornell University Press, 2001), which he co-authored with Robert Ridgely. The Spanish version was published in 2006 and The Birds of Ecuador App was launched in 2018. Paul is also co-author of Birds of Western Ecuador, a Photographic Guide (Princeton University Press, 2016) with Nick Athanas. He has participated in the discovery of a number a new avian species to science and has painted several frontispiece illustrations of these newly described taxa. Paul is very involved in saving Ecuador’s avian diversity and important habitats through his involvement with various foundations, as well as working with and inspiring local governments and communities to get involved in the protection of “their” biodiversity as a pioneer and promoter of birding tourism throughout Ecuador. He was the lead author of Ecuador’s National Strategy of Bird Tourism (2006), and its Update (2010). He has been showing visitors the birds of this fascinating country for nearly five decades and has led many Ecuador bird tours. Paul and his wife, Martha, live in Quito.

Remigio (Remi) Grefa was born and raised along the shores of the Napo River in the tiny indigenous Kichwa community of Añangu, in the upper Amazon Basin of Ecuador. As a child of the rainforest, he developed a close tie with the rich biodiversity of the Amazonian jungle, but became especially interested in birds as a young boy when he noticed foreign visiting birdwatchers arriving at a nearby nature lodge. It was then that he promised himself that when he grew up he would learn the names of the local birds, in English. . . and he eventually did! Throughout his formative years, his community had embarked on a groundbreaking nature tourism project of their own—the building and co-management (and eventually outright ownership) of the fabulous Napo Wildlife Center—and by the time Remi graduated from high school he was ready to join the ranks of this incredible endeavor. He began working at the lodge from the ground up (odd jobs, dishwasher, laundry brigade, etc.); after a few months he was promoted to waiting tables, and after six months he became one of the lodge’s bartenders for a year-and-a-half. He then graduated to boatman, where he was the second canoe paddler for many, many birding groups, which gave him the perfect opportunity to receive hands-on apprenticeship in birding, as well as English. In 2009, he took a job as a waiter on the Manatee Amazon Explorer, a houseboat style vessel that cruises the country’s Napo and Aguarico rivers. He was eventually promoted again as an official birding and naturalist guide at Napo Wildlife Center by 2017 and continues to fill that role exceptionally to this day. Remi and his wife, Lola, along with their two daughters, Kayana and Wita, live in the parish of Dayuma, not far from the frontier town of Puerto Francisco de Orellana (more commonly known as “Coca”).

Steve Hilty is the senior author of A Guide to the Birds of Colombia, and author of Birds of Venezuela, both by Princeton University Press, as well as the popular Birds of Tropical America, A watcher’s introduction to behavior, breeding and diversity. He has also written a number of scientific papers on birds and plants, has described two species of birds new to science in Venezuela, and another, with a team of scientists, in Colombia. He also wrote the text and species accounts for the tanager family for the acclaimed Handbook of Birds of the World, published by Lynx Press in Barcelona. In a departure from ornithology, Steve also wrote Dirt, Sweat, and Diesel: A Family Farm in the 21st Century, a book focusing on a Midwestern farm family. However, he returned to birds with his recent (2021) Birds of Colombia, published by Lynx Editions of Barcelona, Spain. Steve holds a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Arizona and has worked at the Arid Lands Department at the University of Arizona, and as a broker with Merrill Lynch. He is currently a research associate in ornithology at the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute. Since 1983 he has also worked for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, guiding trips throughout North and South America, and co-leading trips to India, the Orient, and Australasian regions. With more than four decades of experience in South America and a wide range of natural history interests, he brings a unique breadth of expertise to his Neotropical tours. At night he often turns his binoculars towards the skies for stargazing. Steve lives in Kansas City with his wife, Beverly. They have two daughters.

Dion Hobcroft has been working for VENT since 2001. He has led many tours (more than 200) to Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Bhutan, Indonesia, India, China, Southwest Pacific, Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, Malawi, Myanmar, Japan, Russia, Alaska, Tanzania, Uganda, Madagascar, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and the Antarctic. In 2007, 2013-2019, and 2022–2025 alone, Dion showed more than 2,000 species of birds to VENT clients every calendar year. His informative, relaxed, and educational nature, combined with sharp eyes and ears, has established Dion as a favorite of many tour participants. His fieldwork for over 40 years on birds and other terrestrial vertebrates has allowed him to amass an extraordinary knowledge of the biodiversity in the Asia-Pacific region. Born in Tasmania and based in Sydney, Dion has traveled widely throughout Australasia, listing over 1,200 species, placing him in the top echelons of the region’s birders. He is very tuned-in to the songs of bird species in the Asia-Pacific region, and specializes in rare and elusive species. He is delighted to show these skulking rarities to his travel companions. Dion has published several papers on field ornithology, served on national and state rare bird committees, managed Birdline NSW, run introduction to ornithology courses for Sydney University, and, before he traveled so continuously, was a popular speaker with various natural history societies. Dion has worked for many research and government agencies ranging from the Antarctic Division, Department of Environment NSW, Agriculture Protection WA, Taronga Zoo, Australian Museum, and the Queensland Department of Primary Industry. Dion lives in Sydney with his wife, Lise, and two grown-up children, Grace (age 24) and Daniel (age 20).

David James is an Australian birder and ecologist. In 1982, a teenaged David joined a pelagic trip off Sydney Australia, just for a lark. He was instantly hooked on seabirds and has been a birder ever since. David has birded widely in Australia (where he has seen over 750 species), North America (over 650 species) Southeast Asia, Antarctica, and a few other countries. He has written several identification articles on gulls, honeyeaters, and frigatebirds, and is recognized as an international expert on the latter. In the 1990s, David worked as a staff editor for the Handbook of Australian New Zealand and Antarctic Birds, contributing many texts for this definitive reference. He has been a member of the Birdlife Australia Rarities Committee for over 20 years. David is also a professional ecologist who studied in Tasmania and northern Queensland, Australia. At various times he has studied land birds, seabirds, whales and dolphins, Koalas, bats, frogs, reptiles, land crabs, and insects. David has been a guide not only for many bird tours, but also has many years experience as a whale-watch guide in Australia and the U.S.A. In 2006 he organized and led the birding itinerary for the inaugural Christmas Island Birdweek. David currently lives in Sydney, Australia, with his partner, Brigitte. 

João Jara was born in Lisbon and studied biology at the Faculdade de Ciências de Lisboa, where he developed his professional career in the pharmaceutical industry as senior manager and director of various multinational companies. With some 35 years of field experience, João has an intimate knowledge of the birds and birding in Portugal. He has traveled extensively in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas with birding as the main objective. João was a member of the board of SPEA (Birdlife in Portugal) and was a voting member of the Portuguese Rarities Committee from 2005 until 2011 and chairman of the committee from 2007 until 2011. Author and co-author of articles about birds, João has led many tours (in Portugal, Spain, and other destinations), as well as bird identification courses. In 2008, he launched the first Portuguese company totally dedicated to the organization of birdwatching tours, Birds & Nature Tours Portugal; João manages the company and also guides many of its tours. Besides birds, he has an active special interest in amphibians, reptiles, and fish.

Perri Klass, MD, is Professor of Journalism and Pediatrics at New York University, where she directs the Minor in Medical Humanities. She attended Harvard Medical School and completed her residency in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital, Boston. Dr. Klass has written extensively about medicine, children, literacy, and knitting. Her most recent book is The Best Medicine: How Science and Public Health Gave Children a Future, about how the decline in infant and child mortality has changed parenting, pediatrics, and the world; her other nonfiction includes Treatment Kind and Fair: Letters to a Young Doctor,  Every Mother is a Daughter: the Neverending Quest for Success, Inner Peace, and a Really Clean Kitchen, which she coauthored with her mother, and Quirky Kids: Understanding and Helping Your Child Who Doesn't Fit In, which she coauthored with Eileen Costello, M.D. She has written regularly about children’s issues for The New York Times for many years, and her medical journalism has appeared in a wide variety of publications, including Harper’s, The Atlantic, Smithsonian, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The New England Journal of Medicine, and Harvard Medicine. Dr. Klass is the National Medical Director of Reach Out and Read, a program through which pediatricians promote parents reading aloud with young children, providing guidance and books to more than 4.4 million children and their families every year. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Jeri M. Langham has a Ph.D. in plant ecology from Washington State University, and after 38 years as a professor of biological sciences at California State University in Sacramento, retired in May 2008. He received the first Outstanding Teacher Award from the newly formed College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in 1997; the Outstanding Faculty Award from the Science Educational Equity and Minority Organization of Science Students organizations in 2005; and his University’s third annual Lifetime Achievement Award for Community Service in 2006. Jeri has ardently birded all over North America, as well as Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Kenya, Borneo, South Africa, Thailand, Cuba, and Australia. Born and raised in Venezuela, he speaks fluent Spanish. Known for his enthusiasm and boundless energy, Jeri thoroughly enjoys searching for birds and sharing them with others. His passion for teaching and his natural teaching abilities soon become apparent as his tour participants enjoy learning more about the biological world around them. Jeri is a former member of the California Bird Records Committee. He is a Founding Director and the Fundraising Director for the Neotropical Grassland Conservancy.

Geoff Lockwood's interest and involvement with birds dates back to his early years at school and forms part of a wider interest in the biodiversity of the Southern African sub-region. After leaving school, he began a career as a bird artist, illustrator, and author. In 1981, he published Garden Birds of Southern Africa and later also contributed half the illustrations to the 5th and 6th editions of Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa. Geoff is currently based at the Delta Environmental Centre in Johannesburg where he acts as part-time manager and education officer, working to instill an environmental ethos in teachers and school groups that visit the Centre. For the past 40 years he has been involved with local birding organizations and has served on the Council of the Southern African Ornithological Society—now BirdLife South Africa, for most of that time. He travels widely in the region, presenting lectures, talks, and courses on bird identification, ecology, and behavior, and was also involved in the training of local bird guides as part of a BLSA initiative to give communities a vested interest in the conservation of their local birds. With 874 species listed within southern Africa, Geoff is amongst the region's top birders. He has led tours to many destinations in Southern and Central Africa, as well as Kenya and Israel.

Barry Lyon’s passion for the outdoors and birding has its roots in his childhood in southern California. During his teenage years, he attended several VENT/ABA youth birding camps, which ultimately led to his future involvement with Victor Emanuel Nature Tours. He holds a B.A. from the University of Arizona at Tucson where he studied history and political science, with an emphasis on environment and development politics. Barry joined the VENT team as a tour leader in 1995 and embarked on a travel-based career that has taken him to an array of worldwide destinations. He has lived in Austin, Texas since 2004 when he joined our office staff as an administrative assistant. In 2014 he was named Chief Operating Officer (COO), reflecting his increased experience and responsibilities. In 2023 Barry ascended to the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Although Barry still leads two or three trips a year, these days his work is geared almost entirely toward business, customer relations, and the management of the company. Barry’s background and his knowledge of natural history have provided him with a strong interest in conservation. He is a former board member and past president of Travis Audubon Society, which emphasizes conservation through birding and outdoor education for children. Barry resides in South Austin with his wife, Brooke Smith.

Ron Martin grew up on a grain and cattle farm on the plains of North Dakota, and bought his first field guide as a young boy. While studying for his B. A. in Music Performance at Goshen College in Indiana, he began birding seriously after a college trip to Honduras. Returning to North Dakota after his studies, he began a career in manufacturing, spending most of his free time birding the Northern Plains and guiding individuals and small groups when time allowed. Ron’s other interests include music, competitive powerlifting, and politics. He has birded across the United States and also in Mexico, Central America, Africa, and the Philippines. Ron is a former chair and longtime member of the North Dakota Bird Records Committee and has co-authored several papers and publications on North Dakota birds, including Birding North Dakota. He was the Northern Great Plains Editor for North American Birds for over 30 years. Ron is a past president of the North Dakota Birding Society and a former board member of the South Dakota Ornithologists’ Union. He has had a keen interest in the Breeding Bird Survey, conducting nearly 200 routes while coordinating the Survey for North Dakota. Ron's special interests are regional variation in bird vocalizations and North American bird distribution. He has contributed range information for numerous North American field guides over the years. After many years on the Northern Plains, Ron is now retired and recently moved to North Carolina.

Brad McKinney began birding during the winter of 1987–88, an exciting year in which many Mexican rarities were recorded in South Texas. His passion for birds has led to numerous birding trips and photography expeditions across North America, Mexico, Central America, and Hawaii. Brad loves pelagic birding and has guided Texas pelagic trips since 1995, many from his home town of South Padre Island. He has been a longtime tour leader at the Rio Grande Birding Festival and has led birding trips across Texas and Mexico. Brad has served on the Texas Bird Records Committee for six years and co-authored A Birder’s Guide to the Rio Grande Valley. He received his degree in biology at the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s degree in marine ecology at the University of Texas at Brownsville. Brad’s other interests include nature photography, surfing, and snowboarding with his son, Will. He lives at South Padre Island with his wife, Janette, and their dog, Sam.

Brennan Mulrooney was born and raised in San Diego, California. Growing up, his heart and mind were captured by the ocean. He split his summer days between helping out behind the scenes at southern California's leading aquarium and working on sport fishing vessels off the coast. As a wildlife and fisheries biology major at UC Davis, he developed his fascination with birds and love of birding while taking a required ornithology course. After graduating from UC Davis, Brennan traveled throughout the United States working on widespread ornithological field studies. His work took him from the mountains of northern California to the Salton Sea in southern California, and from Cape May, New Jersey to Key Largo, Florida. After a six-year stay in the Florida Keys, Brennan returned home to San Diego where he currently lives with his wife, Brynne, their son Declan, and daughter Saoirse. Participants often comment that Brennan's sharp eyes, sharper wit, and easygoing attitude make it a pleasure to bird with him.

Alejandro “Alex” Nagy was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. Despite growing up in the city, he had permanent contact with the outdoors and wildlife throughout his childhood and teen years. At the age of 20, he joined the staff at the William H. Phelps ornithology collection in Caracas, taking an active part in everything related to the operation of a bird museum. As a longtime bird-bander at the Portachuelo banding station in PN Henri Pittier, VZ, he has first confirmed country records for Caribbean Martin, Chimney Swift, and Worm-eating Warbler among others. Alex has also been part of important expeditions to rediscover enigmatic species such as the Orinoco Softtail and the Tachira Antpitta. He has also been a field assistant in bird sound studies, which has given him tremendous skills in bird identification by vocalization. Alex began leading birding tours in Venezuela in the year 2000, at the world-famous Hato El Cedral cattle ranch and nature reserve, and later throughout the country. This passion was the catalyst for his move to Colombia with his wife, Esmeralda, in 2018, co-leading tours with David Ascanio and also Steve Hilty. He became an avid eBirder, soon-to-be regional reviewer, and always on the lookout for new birds—county, state, regional, or even better, lifers. With a charming, humble personality, Alex is always cool and calm under pressure, with great patience. His outstanding passion for birds and nature will ensure an enjoyable tour experience in all aspects.

Michael O’Brien is a freelance artist, author, and environmental consultant living in Cape May, New Jersey. He has a passionate interest in bird vocalizations and field identification, and a serious addiction to migration and nocturnal birding. His travels have taken him throughout North and Central America and beyond. At home in Cape May, Michael serves as an Associate Naturalist with Cape May Bird Observatory for whom he conducts numerous workshops, and, for many years, conducted a fall songbird migration count. He is co-author of The Shorebird Guide, Flight Calls of Migratory Birds, and America’s 100 Most Wanted Birds, and is primary author of Larkwire, an online and handheld application for learning bird sounds. His illustrations have been widely published in books and field guides, including the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America and the new Peterson field guides. Michael also has an intense interest in butterflies, leads several “Birds & Butterflies” tours with his wife, Louise Zemaitis, and is coordinator of the Cape May Butterfly Count.

Scotland resident John Poyner has worked locally as a professional wildlife tour guide and freelance ornithologist since 2002. He spent 12 years guiding tours for two of Scotland’s leading wildlife holiday companies throughout the Scottish Highlands and Islands as well as abroad, while simultaneously performing ornithological survey work. In 2012, John launched his own company, Highland Nature, while also working as a wildlife expert and guide for the Birdwatching and Wildlife Club (BWWC) and the Grant Arms Hotel in Grantown on Spey. In recent years, he has guided alongside the well-known faces of Nick Baker, Iolo Williams, Mike Dilger, and David Lindo on the Grant Arms “Celebrity Weeks.” John holds a Bachelor of Science (honors) degree in Environmental Science & Ecology. He has extensive experience with upland windfarm survey work, working in Scottish mountain environments during the winter months as well as in the summer breeding season, and other standard bird survey methodology. Prior to working as a professional guide, John moved to Scotland in the early 1990s, where he worked for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) as a volunteer at Loch Garten and Insh Marshes. Thereafter, he spent a season building footpaths in the Cairngorms Mountains before becoming assistant warden at RSPB’s Loch of Strathbeg Reserve, where he spent the next two years. John has also worked as a seasonal countryside ranger for Aberdeenshire Council. Later, he spent time teaching in the Czech Republic before returning to the Highlands to become a full-time wildlife guide. John is a competent and experienced ornithologist as a well as a keen amateur naturalist. An active birder for over 35 years, he has been the Scottish Ornithologists Club Regional Bird Recorder for Highland since 2020, as well as administering various social media news services for the region. John is based in Nethybridge, at the heart of the spectacular Cairngorms National Park, where he resides with his wife, Lucka, and sons, Mattias and Jakub.

Raj Singh, born in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, is a distinguished ornithologist, fellow of the Royal Geographic Society, and inveterate world traveler. His first passion in life is wildlife conservation, and his knowledge of natural history is unsurpassed. He also has a fascination with India’s history, culture, and cuisine. A descendant of India’s royal Kshartriya family from Bharatpur, Raj is the author of Bird and Wildlife Sanctuaries of India, Nepal and Bhutan, and Mammals of the Indian Subcontinent.

Michelle Sopoliga grew up in Camarillo, California, and has been birding since 2002 when she took a Field Biology class at California State University, Chico. She earned her B.A. in Liberal Studies, B.S. in Biological Sciences/Ecology, and a Teaching Credential from CSU, Chico and has since been teaching high school science. The first five years of her teaching career were spent in Manteca Unified School District, California, where a highlight was the opportunity to take students on overnight camping trips to Yosemite, Mono Lake, Pinnacles National Monument, and Point Reyes National Seashore. She valued showing students the birds, wildlife, and geological features that she spoke of in class. Michelle began her love affair with Alaska in 2005, where she spent the summer greeting visitors to Yukon-Charley Rivers National Wildlife Preserve in Eagle. She also worked for the National Park Service studying Peregrine Falcons nesting on the Yukon River. She returned to Alaska in 2007 to study eiders and Emperor Geese on Kigigak Island as a USFWS technician out of Bethel on the Yukon-Delta National Wildlife Refuge. She was back in 2012 with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service studying Steller’s Eiders in Utquiagvik (Barrow). She moved full-time to Alaska in 2013, where she teaches at Effie Kokrine Charter School in Fairbanks. There, she has focused on bringing indigenous culture into the science classroom and coaching the cross-country running team. While Michelle has birded Central America, South America, and Africa, she spends much of her available time birding extensively throughout Alaska. She manages two breeding bird surveys on the Taylor Highway, has helped conduct duck brood surveys on the Yukon Flats with USFWS, and regularly participates in the Christmas Bird Count. She was in the group that documented the first nest for Timberline Sparrow in the state of Alaska. She enjoys birding everywhere she goes and is rarely seen without her binoculars in hand. She is excited about sharing her enthusiasm, knowledge, and thirst to learn more about birds as a guide with VENT.

Attila Steiner is a keen birdwatcher and naturalist. He worked for WWF on species conservation and wildlife trade before joining Ecotours Wildlife Holidays, for whom he leads tours to most countries in Eastern Europe, plus Ghana and Ethiopia. Attila has traveled extensively throughout most of Europe, Africa, Asia, and the American continent. He speaks English, German, and Spanish. His thorough knowledge of not only birds, but butterflies and dragonflies as well, is complemented by a special sense of humor.

Doris Valencia is a keen Peruvian birder and naturalist. She was born in Cusco, the capital of the Incas. Her passion for the outdoors and birding has its roots in her childhood. She spent her early years in the Madre de Dios region (southern Amazon) where her parents managed an eco-lodge. Doris leads birding trips throughout Perú and Colombia and is expanding to Ecuador. She unites great birding skills with a wide-ranging knowledge in all aspects of natural history. She is also an avid student of Peruvian history. Her lectures on the history of Machu Picchu are superb. Doris is the director of the Pacha Conservancy Project, which works with reforestation, outdoor education, research, and community outreach in the fragile cloud forest north of Cusco-Perú. She is also an entrepreneur and has been working to promote women in the tourism industry as guides and naturalists, especially from the communities that surround important bird areas.

Marco Valtriani is a birding guide and field biologist constantly engaged in exploring the natural environments and observing the flora and fauna of Mediterranean Europe. For more than two decades, Marco has been guiding birders and naturalists throughout his native Italy and all of Europe. His passion and deep knowledge have motivated him to help people discover the natural beauty of Europe’s landscapes by creating and planning tours focused on birds and their environments. Whether it’s along forest trails, the shores of lakes and lagoons, or quiet roads in the bucolic countryside, Marco’s expertise can make all the difference for those in search of a meaningful experience with nature. Like any self-respecting Italian, Marco is also an expert in wine and food, which are vital ingredients of the tours he leads. He eagerly shares his knowledge of the history, culture, and traditions that have shaped the landscapes of Europe.

Raymond L. VanBuskirk’s love and admiration for the natural world was awakened amidst the pine forests of New Mexico where he grew up. From a very early age he nurtured his passion for birding, and for the past three decades he has dedicated his life to making this passion his career. Raymond joins the VENT family after seven years as a senior tour leader for another organization, and over a decade of leading birding tours independently. Raymond’s extensive career includes significant contributions to ornithology, serving as a USFWS research technician studying seabirds on the Arctic Ocean and North Pacific, heading Rosy-Finch and Gray Vireo research studies across New Mexico, developing methods for studying breeding ecology in Grasshopper Sparrows, and holding leadership roles such as past president of the Central New Mexico Bird Alliance and board member of Western Field Ornithologists. He’s been a regular instructor for the American Birding Association’s youth birding camps and at Hog Island Audubon Camp in Maine. Raymond is a proud member of QBNA, the continent’s informal club for LGBTQIA+ birders, where he plays a key role in organizing and leading annual conferences that provide a safe, inclusive space for birders to connect and celebrate their shared love of the outdoors and queerness. When Raymond is not traveling, he resides in St. Louis, Missouri with his partner, Marissa, his stepdaughter, Savannah, their dog, Layla, and two large snakes.

Santiago Villa has operated his own birding tour company, Spainbirds Nature Tours, since 1999. He has also led tours for some of the well-known UK tour companies, as well the American Birding Association and several RSPB local groups. Santi has participated as an ecotourism expert at meetings and conferences in different localities of Spain such as Madrid, Cádiz, Trujillo, Monfragüe, and Doñana, as well as Lisbon (Portugal). Santi has guided tours in Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Portugal, Scotland, Romania, Finland, Norway, Poland, Turkey, Estonia, The Gambia, Morocco, and Kazakhstan.

Andrew Whittaker was born in the UK and began his birding passion at the early age of seven (thanks to his parents) but resides in Brazil. Andy is also a true all-around naturalist with an innate fascination for all aspects of the natural world and simply loves sharing in the field his intimate bird, wildlife, and orchid knowledge in a fun and enthusiastic manner. A senior member of the VENT staff, Andy has led VENT tours worldwide since 1993 from dense South and Central American rainforests to the great White Continent of Antarctica, and throughout Europe to the deserts of the Middle East. More recently Andy can be found leading in the bird-rich rainforests of West Africa, the mammal-rich savannas of East Africa, or observing the cute Red Panda or exotic tragopan in the mighty Himalayas of Nepal. In 2024 Andy was able to show over 2,000 bird species to VENT clients on his tours! Andy is an excellent communicator and calm tour organizer who loves nothing better than hearing, finding, and sharing a rare poorly-known skulker, or telling one of his many fascinating and fun birding and travel stories. His enthusiasm in the field is simply contagious, and a combination of these traits has made him a favored leader amongst participants. Although born in England, Andy considers himself Brazilian, having lived more than 30 years in this mega biodiverse country, first working for the Smithsonian Institution, studying Amazonian rainforest birds in Manaus, as well as leading expeditions to remote corners of the Amazon; he feels privileged to have worked with the incredible Kayapo Indians. Andy is widely considered an authority on Amazonian birds, having authored numerous technical publications on the region’s avifauna. He is well recognized for his amazing hearing and intimate knowledge of South American bird vocalizations. This trait has enabled him to discover several exciting new bird species (such as the Cryptic Forest-Falcon in 2002), as well as rediscover others thought to be extinct such as the White-tailed Tityra while on a VENT tour in 2006! He loves recording birds, too, with over 800 hours of recordings housed in the British Library Sound Archive. Andy is a qualified ringer/bander trained by the late Dr. Clive Minton (fondly known as the father of shorebird studies). His lifelong fascination with bird migration has seen Andy working around the globe at several top bird observatories: Eilat, Israel; Long Point, Canada; and in the UK at Sandwich Bay and on Fair Isle, Scotland, as well as researching shorebirds in Borneo on their East Asian flyway. Andy had the honor of working with Sir David Attenborough in Brazil as a consultant for the prestigious BBC Life of Birds series. At present, Andy is working with Kevin Zimmer on a comprehensive field guide to the birds of Brazil to be published by Princeton University Press. Andy is an associate researcher at the Museum Goeldi, Belem, an active conservationist, and loves bird photography and taxonomy. He is also an avid football/soccer fan of Birmingham City FC and Real Madrid due to its worldwide mega star Jude Bellingham coming from his home team. Andy lives near Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil with his partner, Jaqueline, and their many orchids.

Larry Wolff is the Silver Professor of European History at New York University, and at NYU he has held the positions of Director of the Center for European and Mediterranean Studies, Director of the Remarque Institute, and Co-director (with Perri Klass) of NYU Florence at Villa La Pietra. He received his B.A. from Harvard and his Ph.D. from Stanford. With particular interests in Eastern Europe and Mediterranean Europe, his books, which have been widely translated into foreign languages, include Inventing Eastern Europe (1994), Venice and the Slavs: The Discovery of Dalmatia in the Age of Enlightenment (2001), Paolina's Innocence: Child Abuse in Casanova's Venice (2012), The Singing Turk: Ottoman Power and Operatic Emotions on the European Stage (2016), and Woodrow Wilson and the Reimagining of Eastern Europe (2020). His newest book is The Shadow of the Empress: Fairy-Tale Opera and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy (2023). Larry is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has traveled as a lecturer with cruises in the Adriatic and around the Mediterranean. He also writes frequently about opera for the New York Review of Books and the Times Literary Supplement of London. He lived for many years in Boston and now lives in New York City with his wife, Perri Klass, the well-known doctor and writer.

Rick Wright is a widely published author and sought-after lecturer and field trip leader. A native of southeast Nebraska, Rick studied French, German, Philosophy, and Life Sciences at the University of Nebraska before making a detour to Harvard Law School. He took the Ph.D. in German Languages and Literatures at Princeton University in 1990, then spent a dozen years as an academic, holding successive appointments as Assistant Professor of German at the University of Illinois, Reader in Art and Archaeology at Princeton University, and Associate Professor of Medieval Studies at Fordham University. His numerous scholarly publications include two books on the Latin animal literature of the later Middle Ages. Among Rick's recent books are the second editions of his ABA Field Guide to Birds of New Jersey and ABA Field Guide to Birds of Arizona; his Peterson Reference Guide to American Sparrows is the standard work on the family Passerellidae. He is also the co-author with Sanford Sorkin of Watching Birds in Montclair and Watching Birds in the New Jersey Meadowlands. Especially interested in the history and culture of birding, he is hard at work on a study of hummingbird collecting in France from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. In his spare time, he teaches Latin courses online for the Paideia Institute. Rick lives with his wife, Alison Beringer, and their black lab, Quetzal, in northern New Jersey.

Upcoming Events:

Southwest Wings Summer Festival, Sierra Vista, Arizona, (full event July 30-August 2)

July 31, 12:00-1:15 pm, Lecture: Invaders: Irruptive Birds and Their Stories

August 1, 6:00 am-4:00 pm, Field Trip: Rarities Foray

August 2, 6:00 am-4:00 pm, Field Trip: Big Day with Rick Wright

Southeast Arizona Birding Festival, (full event August 6-10)

August 7, 6:00 am-12:00 pm, Field Trip: Willcox: Shorebirds and Passerines

August 8, 6:00-8:30 am, Field Trip: Birding in the Buff

August 8, 1:00-3:00 pm, Workshop: Museum Birding

August 9, 6:00 am-12:00 pm, Field Trip: Tubac: The De Anza Trail

Louise Zemaitis is an artist and naturalist living in Cape May, New Jersey where she is a popular field trip leader teaching birding workshops as an Associate Naturalist with New Jersey Audubon’s Cape May Bird Observatory. She also enjoys leading birding groups and lecturing at birding festivals and is known for her enthusiasm for all natural history subjects. Louise and her husband, Michael O’Brien, have been guiding young birders at birding events and conferences for many years. In addition to leading, Louise worked as field coordinator of the Monarch Monitoring Project in Cape May and served as compiler of the Cape May Christmas Bird Count for many years. An honors graduate of Temple University’s Tyler School of Art (owner of Swallowtail Studio), she enjoys working as a freelance artist, and her illustrations have been widely published. Her proudest accomplishment has been the raising of her two sons: Bradley, a conservation educator and artist, and Alec, a library scientist and musician.

Peter Zika is a field biologist from Seattle, investigating and describing new species of plants from western North America. Working at the herbarium of the University of Washington, he is writing several chapters for new books on the plants of California and the flora of North America, as well as conducting biological inventories of National Parks and Nature Conservancy preserves, studying interactions between noxious weeds and native wildlife, and researching the diet of fruit-eating birds. His interests in ecology have led him across the Tropics and into polar regions for the last 20 years. In addition to teaching wetland plant identification, he serves as a ship's naturalist on all oceans and continents. Peter has published more than 90 scientific notes, articles, and books, as well as occasional photographs, cards, and reviews in the popular press.

Kevin Zimmer has authored three books and numerous papers dealing with field identification and bird-finding in North America. His book, Birding in the American West: A Handbook, deals with finding and identifying birds in the western United States. Living in Alaska contributed to his affection for the Far North, where he has anchored VENT’s tour program since 1986. For the past 30+ years he has concentrated his attention on the Neotropics, particularly on Brazil, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. He has directed VENT’s Brazil program since 1991. In the past decade, he has rekindled a love affair with the birds and wildlife of Africa, an interest that began as a young boy (watching Marlin Perkins on Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom), but which blossomed with his first trip to Kenya in 1987 and leading several tours there through 1998. Following his return to Africa after a hiatus of more than a decade, his yearly tours to Africa have taken him to Tanzania, Uganda, and Ethiopia. Kevin has a PhD in biology (research emphasis in Avian Evolutionary Ecology) from New Mexico State University, and is a Research Associate of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, an elective member of the American Ornithologists’ Society (AOS), and a member of the A.O.S. South American Classification Committee (SACC). He formerly served two terms on the American Birding Association (ABA) Check-list Committee, and is a regular contributor to Cornell’s Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds. He has authored numerous technical papers on the taxonomy, distribution, and behavior of Neotropical birds, particularly those of the Amazon Basin. In 2003 he completed (with co-author Mort Isler) the major chapter on the Thamnophilidae (antbirds) for the prestigious Handbook of Birds of the World series. In 2006, he and Curtis Marantz coauthored a six-CD compilation of Bird Voices of Alta Floresta and Southeastern Amazonian Brazil (produced by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds) that represents the most comprehensive set of commercially available bird recordings for any part of the Amazon Basin. He and Andrew Whittaker are currently at work on a comprehensive field guide to the birds of Brazil, to be published by Princeton University Press. Kevin lives in Atascadero, California with his wife, Susan. Their daughter, Marina, is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT). She and her husband, Ryan, and their children, Brinn and Clayton, are now living in Napa, California.

Barry Zimmer has been birding since the age of eight. His main areas of expertise lie in North and Central America, but his travels have taken him throughout much of the world, including such exotic locales as Japan, Russia, Madagascar, Africa, and New Zealand. Barry is a longtime member of the New Mexico Bird Records Committee, and served on the Texas Bird Records Committee for 12 years. He has co-authored three books: Birds of the Trans-Pecos, A Birder's Guide to the Rio Grande Valley, and Birds and Birdfinding in the El Paso Area. Barry has a keen interest in nature photography, having captured over 1,600 species of birds on film. His other interests include sports (a diehard Red Sox fan), cooking, and movies. He received his degree in psychology at the University of Texas in El Paso. Barry resides in El Paso with his wife, Yvonne, and their daughter, Alexandra.