Member since: January 01, 2010

Links:
eBird
iNaturalist
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I am an avid birder, photographer, and naturalist who began birding as a 9-year old on family trips to the Delaware bayshore. Originally a Delco native, I began exploring nearby birding hotspots such as John Heinz NWR and Ridley Creek State Park, and eventually linked up with other young birders in the area through the Upper Main Line YMCA’s Youth Earth Service Corps and the DVOC. With fellow DVOCers Brian Quindlen and Brian Raicich, I participated in the World Series of Birding for 5 years, taking 1st place with the UMLY B.B. Kingfishers in 2013.

I studied Wildlife Biology at the University of Vermont, and graduated in 2018. During this time, I conducted research with the Bobolink Project, monitoring the nests of Bobolinks and Savannah Sparrows in the grasslands of the Champlain Valley. I also served as a teaching assistant for the university’s Ornithology class and Birding to Change the World, a class that paired college student mentors with elementary school students on weekly birding walks.

I worked as a point count technician with the Maine Breeding Bird Atlas shortly after graduating from UVM, and then began working as an Outreach Naturalist and Data Technician at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, a nonprofit that advances the conservation of wildlife across the Americas through research, monitoring, and community engagement. Through my work with VCE, I’ve been fortunate to band Bicknell’s Thrushes on Vermont’s highest peak, document new species of bees in VT with the Vermont Bee Atlas, and engage hundreds of people with community science platforms such as eBird, iNaturalist, and eButterfly.