2010 Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua Program Leaders and Presenters

Karen Amstutz lives on the edge of Yosemite National Park with her husband and their three daughters. Like many creatures, Karen and her family undertake a seasonal migration upslope to Tuolumne Meadows where she works each summer as a seasonal Ranger-Naturalist. Karen earned her M.A. from Humboldt State University in Environmental Education, and studied Marine Biology and Human Development at UC Davis. She has been fortunate to have worked as a naturalist in beautiful places for most of 25 years. With her binoculars always around her neck, Karen has traveled extensively in Asia, Central America, and Europe looking for adventures and feathered life forms.

Charles Atkinson has taught writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz, for thirty years. He's the author of four volumes of poetry, three of which have won national awards. His poems appear regularly in literary magazines and anthologies around the country.

Ted Beedy has spent most of his life birding in the Sierra, including the Mono Basin. He authored the wildlife chapters of the Water Rights EIR for Mono Lake, and spent three years doing field work in the Mono Basin. He is currently co-authoring "A Guide to Birds of the Sierra Nevada" with David Lukas, which will include color illustrations of 320 species by Keith Hansen. Ted received his Ph.D. in Zoology from UC Davis in 1982.

Peter Bergen was first introduced to Nature Awareness and Primitive Skills in 1987 and since then, he has been learning, practicing, and enthusiastically sharing these time tested skills and activities. He has enjoyed working with school and scouting groups, nature preserve docents, bass guitar players and others, in places like New Jersey's Pine Barrens, Tennessee's Rolling Hills, and Coastal California. Currently he is associated with Regenerative Design Nature Awareness (RDNA) and playing jazz guitar in Sonoma County, Ca.

Chef Linda Dore began her cooking career at Roget's Restaurant (now Nevados) in Mammoth, and has worked in several other Mammoth restaurants including Nevados, The Matterhorn, and Anything Goes Café. She delighted Eastern Sierra visitors and locals alike with her talents as chef at The Mono Inn at Mono Lake for four years. She studied for eight years under a graduate of the Culinary Academy in San Francisco. She says, "I like to think that my diploma comes from 'Catastrophe Cooking 101A—out of the frying pan and into the fire'... that great school of experience!" Linda has been serving the Chautauqua's Friday night dinners since they began!

Margaret Eissler grew up spending winters in Santa Barbara and summers in Tuolumne Meadows where her parents were caretakers for the Sierra Club property at Soda Springs. Later she played flute with the Santa Barbara Symphony for eighteen years. The magnetic pull of Tuolumne drew her back in 1985 to work first with the Yosemite Association and then in 1987 the National Park Service, splitting her time between Tuolumne Meadows and Yosemite Valley. In 1992 she founded the Parsons Memorial Lodge Summer Series, an annual forum for the arts and sciences. She loves the Mono Basin and is excited to finally give her music walk here.

Santiago Escruceria is a Colombian-born American citizen residing in California for the past 30 years. He graduated with a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology and a minor in Environmental Studies from Sonoma State University in northern California. He has taught environmental education, in Spanish and English, for the past sixteen years, eleven of which he has spent with the Mono Lake Committee. At Mono Lake he manages an outdoor education program for Los Angeles inner-city youth. Santiago is an avid birder, leading bird walks in Colombia during the winter and walks for school groups and the public in the Mono Basin during the summer. He has been birding the America's since 1986.

Claude Fiddler is an adventurer with numerous first ascents, mountaineering expeditions in Alaska and on the West Ridge of Mount Everest, and thousands of miles logged in what John Muir described as the "Range of Light". He is the author of four books: Sierra Classics: 100 Best Climbs in the High Sierra, 1993,Chockstone Press, The High Sierra: Wilderness of Light, 1995, Chronicle Books, A Vast and Ancient Wilderness: Images of the Great Basin, 1997, Chronicle Books, Yosemite Once Removed, 2001, The Yosemite Association.

Lisa Fields is the wildlife biologist for the Sierra District of California State Parks; she is in charge of wildlife management in parks extending from Plumas-Eureka State Park in the north to Mono Lake Tufa State Reserve in the south. Her main emphasis is on raptor management, which includes Osprey, Northern Goshawk, Bald Eagle, and California Spotted Owl. At Mono Lake, she has been leading the Osprey nest monitoring program since 2004.

Tom Hahn is a field biologist with bachelor's and master's degrees in Biology from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Washington. He's been studying crossbills, White-crowned Sparrows, and other songbirds all over the West since the mid-1980s, and has spent countless hours in the field around Tioga Pass. He enjoys observing animals in their natural habitats, sharing what he knows with fellow naturalists, and learning from his students. Tom is currently on the biology faculty at UC Davis, and lives in Davis with his wife Julie, and his six-year-old son Lyle. You can find out more about his research at www.npb.ucdavis.edu/npbdirectory/hahn.html.

Kirk Hardie is a Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of a newly-formed research, education, and outreach organization: the Tahoe Institute for Natural Science. He has been an environmental educator for seven years, highlighting the beauty of birds in the natural world, among many other topics. He received his Master of Science degree in Biology from the University of Nevada, Reno, where he developed a four-week high school curriculum based on the ecology of the Great Basin. He is an adjunct faculty at Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, NV where he teaches Field Ornithology and currently resides in Reno, NV.

John Harris began his interest in Mono's mammals while working as an undergraduate assistant in a study of chipmunks in 1975. He went on to study small mammals on Mono's dunes as a graduate student and has worked on small mammals in the Sierra Nevada and San Joaquin Valley of California. John is the author of Mammals of the Mono Lake-Tioga Pass Region and is currently teaching at Mills College in Oakland, California.

Sacha Heath's love of the Mono Basin was sparked while visiting the area as part of UC Santa Cruz's Sierra Institute field program in 1990. She sealed the deal by returning for the next two summers working as a USFS Wilderness Ranger in Rush Creek's headwaters. From 1998-2006 Sacha studied birds in the Owens Valley and at Mono Lake as Eastern Sierra Program director and biologist for PRBO Conservation Science. Now a graduate student at Humboldt State University, she is thrilled to be returning to the Mono Basin once more to study the interactions between birds, bugs and cottonwoods along Mono's tributary streams. Some things never change.

Debbie House is a watershed Resources Specialist for the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power in Bishop. She has a master's in Biological Sciences from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where she conducted research in avian community ecology. She is conducting long-term monitoring studies at Mono Lake, Bridgeport reservoir, and Crowley Lake reservoir in order to evaluate the response of waterfowl and shorebird populations to increases in the elevation of Mono Lake.

Burleigh Lockwood has been a field biologist since the age of four (smashed worms and crumpled caterpillars in inquisitive hands). She pursued biology through high school and into college. While she was finishing her degree in Environmental Biology, she began working for California Fish & Game as a seasonal biologist. It was a career shift to the Forest Service that brought her into contact with owls. As an official "hooter" on Spotted Owl surveys for the Forest Service, she learned the habits and hoots of the owls in the Sierra. She is currently a biologist for the Education Department of the Chafee Zoo in Fresno.

Peter Metropulos has spent 20 years exploring and birding throughout Mono County and has an intimate knowledge of Mono Basin birds. He has served as one of the sub-regional editors of North American Birds magazine for over 25 years, and has co-authored several articles and bird-finding guides. Peter is a practicing horticulturist and is therefore able to identify and share with us many of the area's botanical wonders as well!

John (Jack) Muir Laws is a naturalist, educator and artist who delights in exploring the natural world and sharing this love with others. For six years, John Muir Laws backpacked the Sierra Nevada to research and illustrate The Laws Guide to the Sierra Nevada, a pocket-size field guide to over 1,700 species found in the Sierra Nevada and is beautifully illustrated with over 2,710 original watercolor paintings. Laws is deeply committed to stewardship of nature and collaborates with organizations throughout the state. He initiated Following Muir's Footsteps, an educational program to engender passionate love of nature, personal understanding of natural history and commitment to stewardship. This program gets students out in the field, learning from their own observations and using field guides and nature journals as the basis for discovering nature around them. As a part of this project, he is working secure funding to donate sets of field guides to every middle and high school in the Sierra Nevada. Laws has worked as an environmental educator for over 25 years in California, Wyoming, and Alaska. He teaches classes on natural history, conservation biology, scientific illustration, and field sketching. He is trained as a wildlife biologist and is an associate of the California Academy of Sciences. In the summer of 2004, Laws also published Sierra Birds: a Hiker's Guide. He is a regular contributor to Bay Nature magazine with his "Naturalists Notebook" column. In 2009, he received the Terwilliger Environmental Award for outstanding service in Environmental Education.

Stella Moss came to the Mono Basin in 2005 to work for PRBO Conservation Science on Mono Lake's tributary streams. She has returned to the Eastern Sierra every season since and now leads PRBO's Eastern Sierra projects. Stella has a BA in Outdoor Experiential Education and Natural History from Prescott College. Her work with PRBO in the Eastern Sierra provides critical information on breeding songbirds in Sagebrush, Aspen, Pinyon Pine and Riparian habitats. The results of the research are used to guide land management decisions in the Eastern Sierra. Stella is grateful to call the Mono Basin her new home and is eager to further the understanding of bird conservation in this region.

Lisa Murphy is a seasonal ranger naturalist in Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park. Her first foray into star programs was in 1993 assisting with a planetarium and observatory for 6th grade students at The Clemmie Gill School of Science and Conservation in Tulare County. Lisa is enchanted by the night sky, especially as seen from the open spaces in Yosemite's high country and the Mono Basin.

Kristie Nelson has had a love for birds since some of her earliest memories. She has conducted ornithological fieldwork throughout much of the state, serves on the California Bird Records Committee, and has been the project leader for the California Gull research at Mono Lake for several years. She lives in the Mono Basin and is very familiar with its assemblage of bird life. When not engaged in birding activities, she is busy running a small diversified farm with her husband Joel.

Karyn "Kestrel" O'Hearn began following birds around during Natural History Field Quarter through UC Santa Cruz. After graduating in 1996 with a BA in Natural History, she worked at several outdoor schools as a naturalist and seasonally assisted in ornithological fieldwork. Kestrel finally settled at an outdoor school just outside Yosemite National Park, where she worked as a naturalist for 8 years recently leaving to pursue life as a classroom teacher where she entices 7th graders into the world of science. Since 2002, she returns each summer to live and work as a Ranger Naturalist in Yosemite's high country where birds are her guide and natural environments her teacher.

Bob Power is the Executive Director for Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society. Bob is a leader for the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory's HawkWatch program, and has been a field trip leader for Golden Gate Audubon, SFBBO, the Oakland Bird Club, The Wild Bird Center, and trip co-leader for Paradise Birding and Elder Hostel International. Bob has been the instructor for Introduction to Birding at Palo Alto Adult School for the past four years.

Sarah Rabkin is a writer, editor, visual artist, and keeper of illustrated field journals. She has led dozens of field workshops in beautiful settings around the American West, with a special focus on the Sierra Nevada and environs. A longtime teacher of writing and environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Sarah has a BA in biology from Harvard University and a graduate certificate in science communication from UC Santa Cruz. She finds inspiration in landscapes, places, and the natural world, and enjoys helping others cultivate the power in their own voices and visions.

Will Richardson has been birding and conducting field research in the Sierra Nevada since 1994, including several seasons working for the Point Reyes Bird Observatory in the Mono Basin and elsewhere in the Eastern Sierra. Will received his Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology from the University of Nevada, Reno, studying bird communities in Sierra Nevada aspen habitats. He resides in Truckee and now focuses most of his attention on the natural history of the Lake Tahoe region. He is currently authoring a status and distribution guide for the birds of the Lake Tahoe basin, and is Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of a newly formed research, education, and outreach organization: the Tahoe Institute for Natural Science.

Cathy Rose, an experienced botanical guide in the deserts, coasts, and mountains of California, has led plant excursions for the National Park Service in the Tuolumne Meadows/Tioga Pass area for twelve years. A native California, Cathy owns a cabin in the Eastern Sierra. She has explored the local areas and is eager to share the joy of discovery with participants at all levels of knowledge.

Michael Elsohn Ross lives with his wife in El Portal at Yosemite's western boundary, perched on a bluff overlooking the Merced River where they hear dippers sing and watch herons hunt. For more than 30 years he has led field classes and custom hikes for the Yosemite Association, including many programs for children and families. He wrote and illustrated his first two children's books in 1979 and has written forty more since then. Rolypolyolgy, Become a Bird and Fly, Snug as a Bug, Bird Watching with Margaret Morse Nice, and Baby Bear Isn't hungry are a few of the titles inspired by his life and work in the mountains. Michael graduated with a B.S. in Conservation of Natural Resources, with a minor in Entomology, from U.C. Berkeley and earned a teaching credential in early childhood education from Fresno State University.

Alison Sheehey is the Outreach Coordinator for Audubon California's Kern River Preserve. Her deep appreciation of all things Kern began with her explorations of the desert environs of the Temblor Range, where she fell in love with the intricacies of the geology, flora and fauna in a place many regarded as an ugly wasteland.

Dave Shuford is a biologist with PRBO Conservation Science's Wetlands Ecology Division and has overseen research on California Gulls at Mono Lake since 1983. Dave has conducted breeding bird atlas projects in Marin County and the Glass Mountain region of Mono County. He has spent countless hours exploring the hinterlands of California and has a passion for understanding and adding to knowledge on the status and distribution of California's diverse avifauna. He regularly teaches classes with the Mono Lake Committee and with San Francisco State's Sierra Nevada Field Campus at Yuba Pass, and he looks forward to sharing his knowledge with you and learning from you as well.

Stephen Shunk rode his first Mono Lake Bike-a-thon without ever having seen the lake itself. After his first view of the Mono Lake shoreline, Steve became a Monophile for life. Since then, Steve has become an accomplished professional birder, leading birding tours from California to Sicily and speaking at birding festivals and meetings across North America. Since 1997 Steve has studied woodpeckers on the east slope of Oregon's Cascade Mountains, and he recently completed the Peterson Reference Guide to Woodpeckers of North America. When he is not watching woodpeckers, Steve can be found birding at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Oregon. Steve's infectious enthusiasm for birds and the outdoors will leave you with many fond memories.

Rich Silver is a retired park ranger and national award winning educator who has founded University of Earth, a wisdom school dedicated to participating in the reinvention of society and creating sustainable career opportunities. Rich is a practicing ecotherapist and educator holding a Bachelor's degree in a special major, Mind and Nature, a Master's degree in Counseling and Educational Psychology, and Rich has completed all course work for a PhD in the field of Applied Ecopsychology. You can find out more at: www.UofEarth.org.

Zach Smith grew up in San Diego and spent much of his youth honing his soccer skills. A move to Davis, California for college eventually introduced him to the world of science, particularly raptors. After graduation, he embarked on a life of vagrancy as a free-lance field biologist that has led him to many wild parts of California, the Gulf coast of Texas, the southern New Jersey shore, Chile's Atacama Desert, the humid lowlands of Veracruz and the Canary Islands, among other locales. In the end, Zach considers the Eastern Sierra one of his favorite spots and was introduced to the wonders of the region on a camping trip with his father up Convict Canyon (still a favorite spot). In recent years he has become interested in dragonflies, and is somewhat obsessed with photographing these predatory insects. Currently, Zach lives in Davis, Ca. with his wife, Elizabeth.

Rich Stallcup is a wildlife biologist (specializing in birds) who has many years of field experience throughout Western North America including the Mono Basin and Sierra. A good friend of David Gaines and a Mono Lake warrior from the beginning, Rich has also been a senior tour leader and owner of WINGS, a teacher at Point Reyes Field Seminars, and author of several scientific papers and books like Ocean Birds of the Nearshore Pacific. Rich co-founded the Point Reyes Bird Observatory in the late 1960s, and now serves as a naturalist for PRBO Conservation Science.

Bob Steele is a professional bird photographer from Inyokern, California. He has been involved in birding and bird photography for over 20 years. Inyokern is in the bird-rich Kern County, an area centrally located at the convergence of multiple bio-regions, providing the opportunity to photograph many avian subjects. Bob has also traveled around the country, to Central and South America, Australia, and the Southern Ocean, photographing birds along the way. Bob's photos can be seen in many publications: Birding, Wild Bird, Birder's World, Ducks Unlimited, National Geographic Traveler, and National Wildlife magazines; books include: multiple National Geographic field guides, the Smithsonian Field Guide to Birds of North America, American Museum of Natural History Birds of North America, and the soon-to-be-published Stokes Field Guide to Birds of North America. Bob's work is featured at: www.bobsteelephoto.com .

Susan Steele's interest in birds began as a child in Idaho with evenings spent on the porch listening to meadowlarks. This interest blossomed into a passion when she moved to the California desert more than 20 years ago. An accomplished birder with many state and county records, she spends her free time birding, hiking, and enjoying the flowers in the eastern Sierra.

Greg Stock is the first-ever Yosemite National Park Geologist. He received a degree in Geology from Humboldt State University and a Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from UC Santa Cruz. A near-lifelong resident of the Sierra Nevada, Greg has studied and mapped the geology of the Sierra Nevada and Mono Basin for over ten years. He resides in Yosemite Valley with his wife Sarah and daughter Autumn.

Sarah Stock Sarah Stock is a wildlife biologist at Yosemite National Park where she studies wildlife ranging from songbird population dynamics to Great Gray Owl ecology. Prior to joining the National Park Service, Sarah was a migratory field biologist working with endangered species in Hawaii and the Marianas Islands, breeding birds in Alaska, spring migrating birds in Louisiana, and conducting bird monitoring programs at Idaho Bird Observatory (six seasons) and Ventana Wildlife Society's Big Sur Ornithology Lab (four years). She earned her master's degree at the University of Idaho in 2001 where she focused on the migration ecology of Flammulated and Northern Saw-whet Owls. Sarah has authored many technical reports and peer-reviewed publications on western landbird status, ecology, and management; and served on California Partners in Flight Executive Steering Committee. Now living in Yosemite Valley, Sarah's favorite past-time is building her five-year-old daughter’s life list.

Stuart Wilkinson is a long-time Mono Lake paddling guide and veteran kayaker. He and his wife Sue own and operate Caldera Kayaks, and have been operating on Mono Lake for about 15 years. When he's not kayaking Stuart assists with the monitoring of Long Valley Caldera for the US Geological Survey.

In the mid-1980s, naturalist and biologist David Wimpfheimer worked for the Mono Lake Committee accomplishing a variety of educational, lobbying, and promotional objectives. On eleven 350-mile fundraising Bike-A-Thons pedaling from Los Angeles to Mono Lake, he was known to peddle off-course to pursue birds. As a professional nature guide, David educates and interprets all aspects of the environment. For over twenty years, David has imparted much knowledge to private clients and for organizations such as Point Reyes Field Seminars, Mono Lake Committee Field Seminars, Oceanic Society, Elderhostel, and various Audubon chapters (visit www.calnaturalist.com). David's seasoned focus and knowledge make for an enjoyable and educational outing.