CALIFORNIA REDWOODS
BIRD & NATURE FESTIVAL

Field Trip and Workshop Leaders

Keynote:
Michael Fay spent his life as a naturalist. He received a B.S. in 1978 from the University of Arizona and spent six years in the Peace Corps as a botanist in national parks in Tunisia and the savannas of the Central African Republic. He joined the staff of the Missouri Botanical Garden in 1984 to do a floristic study on a mountain range on Sudan's western border, but ended up doing his Ph.D. on the western lowland gorilla. It was at this time that Fay first entered the forests of central Africa, surveying large forest blocks and creating and managing two parks in the Central African Republic and Congo.

In 1991, Fay joined the staff of the Wildlife Conservation Society of the Bronx. Five years later, he flew over the forests of Congo and Gabon and realized there was a vast, intact forest corridor spanning the two countries from the Oubangui to the Atlantic Ocean. In 1997, he walked the entire corridor, over 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers), surveying trees, wildlife, and human impacts on 12 uninhabited forest blocks. Called Megatransect, the project had the objective of bringing to the world's attention the last pristine forest in central Africa and the need for protection. This work led to a historic initiative by the Gabonese government to create a system of 13 national parks in Gabon, making up some 11,000 square miles (28,500 square kilometers).

In 2008, as National Geographic's Explorer-In-Residence, Fay completed the Redwood Transect, his newest project to learn more about the redwood forest. He walked the entire range of Sequoia sempervirens (the coast redwood), over 700 miles (1,000 kilometers).

Alan Barron is Del Norte's leading ornithologist and record keeper of current and historical bird observations in the county. He is one of the original founders of the Aleutian Goose Festival, and has identified and recorded 420 species of birds in the county. For eight years, Alan's uncanny ability to find spring migrants has been instrumental in the success of our festival. He leads tours and conducted bird, butterfly, and amphibian studies and bio-surveys for a variety of state and national organizations. Alan co-authored Birds of Redwood National and State Parks and recently authored and illustrated the Birdfinding Guide to Del Norte County.

Keith Bensen is a fishery and wildlife biologist for Redwood National and State Parks where he is primarily responsible for threatened and endangered species conservation. His previous work has included forest species management in the Warner Mountains of northeastern California, primate research in west central Africa, ecology lecturing while traveling through five countries, protected areas management and primate research on the Caribbean island of Grenada, condor research in southern California, Hawaiian honeycreeper research on the Big Island, and wildlife refuge management and research in southern Florida.

Loren Bommelyn is recognized regionally and nationally as a Tolowa spiritual and political leader. The Tolowa Indians are the first people who once lived throughout Del Norte County. Loren serves on the Tribal Council of the Smith River Rancheria, and is a storyteller, basket maker, and dance keeper. He has spent a lifetime resurrecting and documenting the Tolowa language, culture, and spiritual practices. He and his wife Lena have perfected the art of traditional basket making, and teach and perform Tolowa songs and ceremonial dance. Loren is the author of the book, and co-author of Passing the Moon Through 13 Baskets, A seasonal Guide to the Natural Year and Native American Celebration of the Wild Redwood Coast. The Smithsonian consulted with Loren on the design of the new National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., which displays a large Tolowa collection. Recently Loren was chosen to sit on a nine member statewide panel to design California's new Indian Cultural Center and Museum. In 2002, Loren received the National Tradition Bearer Award from President George W. Bush, the highest honor of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Council on Traditional Arts in Washington, D.C. He is the youngest person ever to receive this award.

Gary Bloomfield is a regional artist and nature illustrator. His brilliant artwork and creative designs appear at the Arcata Marsh Interpretive Center, in American Birding Association publications, on maps, brochures, exhibits, interpretive displays, and T-shirts. Gary has designed posters for both Godwit Days and the Aleutian Goose Festival and his birding travels have taken him to Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Mexico.

Dan Burgess is Del Norte County's watershed coordinator for the Coastal Stream Habitat Improvement Program through California Department of Fish and Game. He has a degree in environmental biology and has worked for 15 years with anadromous fish on both public and private lands. Dan has taught Fish Habitat Restoration at the College of the Redwoods and conducted classroom egg incubation projects in local schools for public education and outreach.

Ken Burton is a wildlife biologist and our Festival's "Big Day" leader. He also operates his own professional bird guide service and has led birding and nature study trips for birding festivals, Audubon groups, Elderhostel, conventions, and individuals. Ken has worked and birded in many states and on every continent and has seen nearly 3,100 bird species. Ken heralds originally from Marin County, where he authored the Marin Audubon Society's Checklist of the Birds of Marin County. He is the past president of Redwood Region Audubon Society, conducts bird programs, and leads field seminars in both Humboldt and Del Norte counties.

Julie Caldwell, M.A. is an herbalist, flower essence practitioner, and owner of Humboldt Herbals in Old Town Eureka. She began practicing as a full-time herbalist in 1997, and has led numerous medicinal plant walks for people of all ages. She teaches courses on plant medicine through the extended education program at Humboldt State University, and is a frequent guest lecturer on the topic of Herbs and Stress.

David Fix has been a lover of the natural world from childhood, and claims to have always been "bird-aware," as he dimly remembers having heard Song Sparrows while playing in his sandbox in Seattle. He began birding seriously at 16. He worked as a timber cruiser, tree planter, silvicultural technician, and wildlife tech for the USDA Forest Service in the Washington and Oregon Cascades over parts of three decades. David has banded more than 100 species of birds, conducted Breeding Bird Surveys in three states, and participated in seabird surveys by small craft from the mouth of the Columbia River to Bodega Bay. His years of woods-work and hiking in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest, along with his support of research efforts, have resulted in encounters with more than 280 Spotted Owls. David has contributed to the Oregon and northern California birding communities through trainings, mentoring, field trip leadership, Audubon programs, and the written word. His interest in geography and plant communities as they relate to bird distribution proved of particular value as he drafted the species accounts for Atlas Of The Breeding Birds Of Humboldt County, California (Redwood Region Audubon Society, Eureka, 2005). David is also senior author of Birds Of Northern California (Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton, 2000).

Rob Fowler graduated from Humboldt State University with an emphasis in Applied Vertebrate Ecology. He has been an active California birder since 1998 when he enrolled in a birdwatching class at Monterey Peninsula College and has been a "birdwatcher" since the age of ten. He has worked on numerous bird-related projects from Alaska to southern California, mostly working with passerines but also waterfowl, raptors, and marbled murrelets. In addition to being an active birder in northwestern California, Rob enjoys sharing his knowledge with others through leading numerous field trips for Redwood Region Audubon Society and area bird festivals. He also donates time as the eBird reviewer for northwestern California and is the Humboldt County editor for the quarterly journal, North American Birds. Rob lives in Arcata with his wife, Jenn, and son, Quinn Avery.

Adam Friedrich is an Interpretive Park Ranger at Redwood National and State Parks and avid surfer. He holds a B.S. degree from Humboldt State University in Natural Resources Interpretation and Native American Studies. He has worked for Yellowstone National Park, Everglades National Park, Del-Nor Wiggins Pass Florida State Park, as a volunteer wilderness ranger for the US Forest Service in the Trinity Alps, as a white water raft guide in Cody, WY, and as a carpenter helping to restore buildings in historic Old Town, Eureka. The highlight in Adam's career was being a featured ranger in a National Geographic book about “Our National Parks: Tours with Rangers”.

Joe Gillespie is and educator, naturalist, and avid fisherman who grew up in Del Norte County and has lived on the banks of Smith River for over twenty years. Graduated from HSU with a degree in biology, he has been an inspirational and innovative teacher in local schools for more than two decades. Joe served on the Del Norte County’s Resource Advisory Committee and is a founding member and president of the Friends of Del Norte, a local conservation organization that worked for the establishment of the Smith River National Recreation Area, the Siskiyou Wilderness, and the wild and scenic designation for the Smith River. Joe has an intimate knowledge of the backcountry and has hiked every trail in the Smith River watershed at least once.

Keith Hamm is Associate Wildlife Biologist for Green Diamond Resource Company. He received his B.S. from Frostburg State University and M.S. in Wildlife from Humboldt State University. He is a Certified Wildlife Biologist and is president of the California North Coast Chapter of The Wildlife Society. He has been working with wildlife on the North Coast since 1989.

Monica Hiner M.S. Monica Hiner completed her M.S. in Fisheries Resources at the University of Idaho in 1999 and her B.S. in Environmental Field Biology at Lewis-Clark State College in 1997. She is a Northern California native who worked for the Yurok Tribe as a Fisheries Biologist for nine years before moving to the Northcoast Marine Mammal Center in 2009 as Director of Operations. As an outdoor enthusiast, she enjoys spending time exploring the unique and beautiful area that surrounds us in Del Norte county.

Rick Hiser is one of the original founders and coordinators of the Goose Festival. He has been a commercial and aerial photographer for over three decades with a degree in Parks & Recreation from Clemson University, South Carolina. Rick leads interpretive tours on redwood ecology and salmon spawning for Save the Redwoods League and Redwood National & State Parks. He also serves as the president of the North Coast Redwood Interpretive Association and as a docent for the St. George Reef Lighthouse Preservation Society. Some of his spectacular images of the redwoods can be viewed in recent interpretive displays at Redwood National and State Parks' southern entrance Kuchel Information Center.

Humboat Kayak Adventures is owned and operated by John "Hawk" Martin, who is committed to excellence, professionalism, and safety for his clients. Humboat Kayak Adventures provides lessons and tours taught and led by professional guides with years of experience, both locally and on an international scale. Hawk and his guides participate in on-going training and drills from water sports safety organizations such as the American Canoe Association, British Canoe Union, Wilderness Medicine Institute, Rescue III Intl., the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Sea Kayak Guides Alliance. For Hawk and his fellow guides, kayaking is not simply a job or a hobby—it is a way of life. The guides at Humboats Kayak Adventures are also avid naturalists with knowledge about all manner of flora and fauna of the marine environment.

Sandra Jerabek, M.S. is a local naturalist, advocate, and long-time lover of Lake Earl the West's largest coastal lagoon outside of Alaska. She has been kayaking on and studying the lagoon as a generalist for seven years. A founder of and steering committee member for the festival, she has developed nature and heritage tourism programs in Del Norte County for almost a decade. Sandra currently serves on the Point St. George Steering Committee and the U.S. Forest Service's Resource Advisory Council.

Laura Julian works as a biological science technician for Redwood National & State Parks and the California Department of Parks & Recreation. She conducts rare and invasive plant surveys and restoration projects at Tolowa Dunes State, Gold Bluffs Beach, and the new Mill Creek addition to the park. Laura holds a B.S. degree in biological science from Humboldt State University and is currently doing her Master's thesis on the solitary bees and dune plant pollinators of Tolowa Dunes. Her experience includes surveys for the Tahoe National Forest as well as Simpson Timber Company.

LarryKarsteadt, M.A. has nurtured life long interests in biology, natural history and medicine. His master's in biology from Humboldt State University focused on mammalogy, ecology and animal behavior. He has traveled as a student and guide to Ecuador, Central America, Australia, Alaska, Europe, and Africa to learn more about the natural world. Ron leads local nature walks and is a casual but perpetual birder interested in all living things. Larry is a past president of Redwood Region Audubon Society and currently serves as the Executive Director of North Coast Emergency Medical Services, which coordinates emergency medical care in Del Norte, Humboldt and Lake Counties.

Kayak Zak’s is owned and operated by Marna Powell, who created a mobile business providing fun, eco-friendly, and safe, on-water instruction, interpretive tours, outdoor education, and environmental awareness in kayaks to persons of all abilities along the beautiful redwood coast of Northern California. She meets you at the water with kayak rentals, instruction, and guided trips in Humboldt Lagoons State Park, Redwood National and State Parks, Trinidad Cove, and other waterways in Humboldt County. Based in Orick, California we service these areas with American Canoe Association (ACA) accredited instructor-guides. Kayak Zak’s is one of the only all-inclusive outfitters on the west coast. www.kayakzak.com

Jon Lee has been actively collecting and studying aquatic macroinvertebrates in northern California since 1983. He was an original member of the California Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Laboratory network and is an active member of the Southwest Association of Freshwater Invertebrate Taxonomists. His private business, Jon Lee Consulting, has processed samples from throughout California. Clients include many private businesses; federal, state and county government agencies; tribal EPA's, and citizen monitoring groups.

Ron LeValley is an outstanding world-traveled wildlife and bird photographer, and founder and senior biologist of Mad River Biologists, a biological consulting and research firm specializing in birds, wildlife, and plants of special concern. Ron is best known for his identification and distribution of birds along the Pacific Coast. Besides authoring scientific publications, Ron is an associate editor of Western Birds. He currently serves on numerous wildlife conservation and management committees including the Aleutian Cackling Goose Working Group. He is also the California coordinator of the Pacific Coast Joint Ventures and treasurer of the Pacific Seabird Group. One of Ron's exceptional attributes is sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm with others. His beautiful photographs are on view at the Festival's website's photo gallery and on his own website www.LeValleyPhoto.com.

Mike McCain

Kevin McKernan is a past director of Yurok Tribal Environmental Programs. With a degree in natural resources management from Humboldt State University, he has worked on Tribal watershed and salmon restoration issues for the last decade on the North Coast. Kevin is responsible for developing comprehensive environmental programs for the tribe, which include everything from funding and staffing to interagency coordination, monitoring, and quality control. Some recent accomplishments include water quality monitoring on the Klamath River, researching sediment impacts to spawning fish, and cumulative watershed effects analysis for Tribal timber harvests.

Eric T. Nelson is the refuge manager for Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex, which includes Castle Rock National Wildlife Refuge. After completing his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Humboldt State University, Eric worked on refuges throughout the West.

Brad Norman has studied reptiles and amphibians for over 30 years. He works locally and regionally researching and conducting field surveys of fish, mollusks, and amphibians for California Department of Fish & Game, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Forest Service. He has published more than a dozen scientific papers on herpetology and given numerous presentations.

Chet Ogan works with Redwood Sciences Lab U.S. Forest Service based in Arcata. A graduate in biology from Humboldt State University in 1970, his career includes silviculture research projects at the USFS Redwood Experimental Forest near Requa, old-growth studies in Douglas fir and redwood forests, and wildlife surveys for spotted owls, passerines, small mammals, and meso carnivores. Chet serves as a docent for the Arcata Marsh, is Conservation Chair and field trip leader for the Redwood Region Audubon Society.

Vicki Ozaki is a geologist for Redwood National and State Parks and has worked in the field of geology for more than 20 years. She has lead field geology seminars and kayak trips. Vicki is involved in tsunami and earthquake education and research and is a member of the Redwood Coast Tsunami Work Group.

Jude Claire Power has been interested in the birds and natural history in Humboldt County for many years. She is co-author of Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Humboldt County, California and the Humboldt County Breeding Bird Atlas. Jude leads monthly trips at the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge and is a past President of Redwood Region Audubon Society.

Mark Renner received an M.S. degree in geology from the University of Wyoming, with emphases in stratigraphy, sedimentology and paleontology. After graduate school He worked for nearly a decade as a geologist for a company which sent him to Australia, Asia, and most of the lower 48 states, working on groundwater-related projects and teaching short courses for government agencies, corporations, and universities. An entrepreneurial “bug” bit Mark in the mid-1990’s and he founded his own consulting company, which he operated until 2000 when he pursued a life-long dream of living in “redwood country,” joining the College of the Redwoods. Renner has been teaching at the college for a full decade now, is a tenured professor of Geology/Earth Science, and has earned various awards (such as Faculty of the Year in 2005). He has taken hundreds of students on field trips similar to the one he’s conducting for this year’s festival.

Kerry Ross is the president of Redwood Region Audubon Society and field trip leader. As a lifelong Humboldt County resident he has a strong interest in and has worked towards protecting its natural diversity. Kerry works as a field biologist for Mad River Biologists I Arcata and has been conducting wildlife surveys for a decade.

Debbie Savage serves as the supervisor for the North District Interpretive Division of Redwood National & State Parks. She has led a 25-year career with the National Park Service working at nine national parks. Debbie grew up learning about birds by identifying the feathered beauties that frequented her family's backyard feeders. Her interest in bird watching grew when she worked in the Everglades in the 1980s. The impressive variety of water birds captured her attention and bird watching became her favorite hobby.

Jim Schlotter is a 43-year resident of Del Norte County. He holds his A.A. degree in natural science and mathematics, and a B.S. degree in Fisheries Biology from Humboldt State University after working in most of Del Norte’s commercial industries: timber, fishing, and construction. Jim first became interested in wood ducks after occasionally sighting a pair on his 3-acre Yonkers Creek property in 1991 while during restoration work pertaining to coastal cutthroat trout. He enhanced his property with several ponds and nesting boxes, and now sees up to 50 ducks returning annually to nest and raise their young. Jim also rescues abandoned wood duck chicks, raising them to where they can fly on their own. He submits hatching data annually to the California Waterfowl Association; their recently published California Wood Duck Program brochure features one of Jim’s photographs on its front cover.

Richard Sermon is the former California State Parks Superintendent for Redwood National and State Parks. He served as a park ranger with the California Department of Parks and Recreation in multiple capacities and at different parklands for over 25 years before retiring. His efforts include the coordination of diverse programs and partnerships with multi-agencies and local, state, and federal governmental bodies that led to the development of policies, funding, interpretation, and protection for the conservation and management of the public's natural, cultural, and historic resources.

Keith Slauson is a Wildlife Biologist and Carnivore Ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station. His research focuses on the distribution, ecology, conservation, and management of forest carnivores including the rarely seen Pacific fisher and Humboldt marten. Keith has studied mammalian carnivores throughout the forests of California and coastal Oregon over the past 15 years. He has been identifying the tracks of forest mammals from deer mice to black bears in order to study their distributions throughout the forests of the region.

Craig Strong has devoted his career to conducting studies and monitoring populations of coastal wildlife species. His work has taken him from the Olympic Peninsula to Antarctica. Craig owns and operates Crescent Coastal Research, a wildlife consulting business based in Crescent City. Craig serves as a member of the Festival's steering committee, and also as an instructor of oceanography and marine mammal science courses at the College of the Redwoods.

Clay Taylor, one of our festival major sponsors representing Swarovski Optik is a lifelong resident of Moodus, Connecticut, he started photographing birds in the 1970s. A founder of the Braddock Raptor Research Center in Rochester, NY, he has given lectures, led nature tours. banded raptors and passerines. He is past president of the Mattabeseck Chapter of Audubon and founding president of the Connecticut Butterfly Association. As the Naturalist Markets Field Coordinator for Swarovski Optik, he travels throughout the nation, attending bird festivals, meeting people, sharing the company's fine optics, as well as seeing and photographing great birds.

James Wheeler has worked as a park ranger at Redwood National and State Parks for 20 years. He received a bachelor's degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a master's degree in Environmental Education from Humboldt State University in Arcata. Acting as a liaison for the parks with the Yurok and Tolowa Indian tribes of northwestern California, Jim has gained insight into native American traditional stories now recognized as oral histories of the last significant Cascadia Subduction event. Following the 1992 earthquake in Humboldt County, CA, Jim began a series of campfire talks in park campgrounds to emphasize the potential hazards of the next large earthquake and tsunami.

Chris West

Pete Peterson has interpreted natural and cultural history for the National Park Service for 10 years. He is passionate about helping park visitors make a meaningful connection to the beauty and wonder of the natural world. In addition to working at Redwood National & State Parks, he has been a park interpreter at Crater Lake, Yosemite, and Denali National Parks. Prior to this, he was a Senior Director and an Environmental Studies Instructor for the National Audubon Society Expedition Institute. He holds a Master of Science degree in Environmental Education from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA.

Wendell Wood is a wildlife biologist and botanist, Wendell began exploring the Lake Earl/Tolowa area thirty-five years ago as part of his course work at Humboldt State University--where he graduated with degrees in Biology and Wildlife Management in 1973. Wendell has since spent most of his adult life familiarizing himself with (and sharing his enthusiasm with others) on the northwest's flora and fauna. Originally, a high school biology teach in southern Oregon, since 1981 Wendell has worked as a Wildland's Advocate and Naturalist for Oregon Wild (formerly the Oregon Natural Resources Council) http://www.oregonwild.org/ He has regularly lead natural history trips throughout Oregon and northern California, and also authored a "Walking Guide to Oregon Ancient Forests". Wendell also leads outdoor trips in the Redwood Region and Klamath/Siskiyous for the Siskiyou Field Institute, and has produced three photo CDs for the Northwest Redwood Interpretive Association of flowering plants, mushrooms and marine life along the immediate northern coast of California. Among his other conservation and advocacy projects for Oregon Wild in the Klamath Basin, Wendell also works part-time on conservation projects in California for the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) http://www.wildcalifornia.org/ based in Humboldt Co.