Photo: Piping Plover - Tamima Itani, This photo is the property of Tamima Itani and may not be downloaded, reproduced or used without permission.

Speaker Biographies

Presentation: IL State Bird Debate

Bio: Stephanie Beilke is the Conservation Science Manager at Audubon Great Lakes, based in Chicago, IL. Stephanie leads marsh bird monitoring surveys, working with many partner organizations and volunteers to inform conservation at Great Lakes coastal wetlands. She also focuses on understanding threats to Black Terns, which have declined dramatically throughout the region. In her free time, Stephanie can be found birding the parks and forest preserves of the Chicago region.

Presentation: Piping plovers in Chicago: Challenges and Opportunities

Bio: Louise Clemency is the Field Supervisor for the Chicago Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Highlights of her twenty plus years with the agency include conserving piping plovers not only on New York State beaches but in Chicago, working on endangered species policy in Washington D.C., Co-chairing the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, negotiating sturgeon passage around hydropower dams, and managing U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Field Offices in Wisconsin and Chicago. Current conservation work of the Chicago Field Office focuses on Hine’s emerald dragonfly, eastern massasauga rattlesnake, eastern prairie fringed orchid, rusty patched bumble bee, monarch butterfly, and piping plovers.

Presentation: Antarctic Penguins and climate change: a glimpse of the past to see the future

In this presentation, Dr. Emslie will provide an overview of penguin ecology in Antarctica with a synopsis of his research and the impacts of climate change that he has witnessed in over 25 years of work there. Five species of penguins breed in Antarctica but only two are endemic, the Adélie and the Emperor Penguin. Here, Dr. Emslie will explain how these species have adapted to the extreme conditions in Antarctica and how climate change is affecting their future survival, especially in the Antarctic Peninsula where warming trends are most severe. He will also describe the unique fossil record for the Adélie penguin and how it is giving us insight into the responses of this species to climate change in the past, allowing us to predict the future of Antarctic penguins as we continue to see dramatic changes in our environment.

Bio: Dr. Steve Emslie is a marine ornithologist and professor in the Department of Biology and Marine Biology, University of North Carolina Wilmington. He studies not only living seabirds, but also the fossil record of birds and their paleoecology. After completing his Ph.D. in 1987, he spent three years as a biologist for Point Reyes Bird Observatory at the Farallon Islands, California, supervising volunteers and assisting in research on 13 species of seabirds and the northern elephant seal. He first went to Antarctica in 1991 to help with penguin and skua research at King George Island and soon began developing his own research program, especially on the Adélie Penguin. Using a variety of interdisciplinary techniques, Dr. Emslie and his students have been investigating the ecology and diet of these penguins, past and present, and the impact of climate change by sampling well-preserved and often mummified remains from the cold, dry Antarctic environment that range in age from hundreds to thousands of years old. He also has designed and teaches a unique undergraduate course on Antarctica, ‘Antarctic Ecology, Geology, History, and Policy’ (BIO 367) and with Honors students has developed K-12 curricula on polar studies that are available on his website, along with blogs from his previous research trips, at https://itsweb02.uncw.edu/penguins/.

Presentation: Wildlife Wonders of the World's Largest Wetland: Brazil's Pantanal

Bio: Josh Engel has been fascinated by birds and animals since he was a child growing up in Evanston. His love of birds, wildlife, and travel set him on a career path of research and guiding all over the world. It eventually inspired him to start Red Hill Birding, a birding and wildlife tour company, in 2016. Even though his first trip to South America was in 2001, he only recently led his first trip to Brazil's famed Pantanal, and is excited about the prospect of leading more trips there in the future. Josh has also previously spent five years as a full-time birding guide based in Ecuador and South Africa, and worked at Field Museum for eight years.

Presentation: Birds Can Save the World – But Only if we Invest in Them Today

Bio: Since 1995, John Fitzpatrick has been Executive Director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University.

A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1974, and received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1978. He served as Curator of Birds and Chairman of Zoology at the Field Museum in Chicago from 1978 through 1989, and taught at the University of Chicago. 

At Cornell, Fitzpatrick has led the dramatic growth of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology into a world-renowned center for ornithology and conservation biology. With his colleagues, he pioneered the development of citizen science, most recently including eBird, an internet-based platform that has become the world’s largest citizen-science project and a revolutionary, global standard for ecological monitoring.

Presentation: Elusive Migration: Rails, Migration and how we care for their wetland
Bio: A quantitative field ecologist whose work primarily focuses on wetland birds, with interests in migration and movement ecology, landscape ecology, wetlands, and remote sensing. Auriel enjoys working with diverse stakeholders to bring together disparate datasets and answer important questions to inform conservation decision-making.

Presentation: The Benefits of Birds on Farms
Bio: Megan has always loved birds, but didn’t discover the world of birding until taking an undergraduate ornithology class. She spent several years after that working on bird research projects across the US and in Jamaica. Megan then completed a Master’s degree studying birds on small organic farms at Humboldt State University in Northern California. She is now finishing her PhD at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she continues to study birds with the goal of addressing bird conservation in agricultural landscapes.

Presentation: The Great Black Swamp: birding and studying the best of spring songbird migration

The Great Black Swamp, situated almost entirely in what is now northwest Ohio, was a vast complex of marshland and forests teeming with wildlife prior to being drained for agricultural use. While the story of its taming is a familiar one, decades-long efforts to restore and revive the productive and lush ecosystems of the Great Black Swamp are reaping rewards for birds and other wildlife. Each May, the area plays host to one of the biggest spectacles of songbird and birder migration in North America– Black Swamp Bird Observatory’s (BSBO) Biggest Week in American Birding. At the same time, BSBO researchers operate one of the largest spring songbird migration banding stations in the United States; gathering data that help inform management decisions, guide conservation efforts, and fuel the enthusiasm of birders. Join us for historical, scientific, and conservation considerations that have affected birders in this area of global importance for birds.

Bio: Ashli Gorbet is an ornithologist specializing in songbird breeding ecology and migration stopover ecology. After spending more than a decade studying the mountains and birds of New Mexico and the southwest, they relocated to Northwestern Ohio to manage the banding projects of Black Swamp Bird Observatory in 2016. In addition to being a licensed Master Bander and a North American Banding Council Certified Trainer for songbird banding, Ashli is a passionate birder and traveler. They serve on the Recording Standards and Ethics Committee for the American Birding Association and are a proud member of the Queer Birders of North America. Ashli is just five species shy of their goal to see every species of mainland Wood-Warbler north of the isthmus of Panama!

Presentation: Birds and Large-site Stewardship at Orland Grassland

Bio: In 2002, Pat Hayes strolled uphill along an old, broken, farm road at Orland Grassland and never looked back.  The landscape, the vision and hopes for restoration, stole her heart and volunteer stewardship suddenly filled her life.   Strategic sequential strategies in collaboration with the FPCC, contractors, partners, and active community outreach, have resulted in amazing transitions in its grassland ecosystems--grassland and migrating birds are a big part of the success story.

Presentation: Piping Plovers in Chicago: Challenges and Opportunities

Bio: Currently, a science educator and program developer at Lincoln Park Zoo. His past positions include zookeeper, University of Notre Dame environmental research technician, and high school science teacher. Matt has been birding since 2011 when he finished a course in ornithology, during graduate school at Central Michigan University. Over the last couple of years his enthusiasm has manifested into obsession in which Matt has led many bird trips around the Chicago area, presented about birding, and traveled around the country trying to rapidly increase his ‘life list.’

Presentation: Birds and Large-site Stewardship at Orland Grassland

Bio: At Orland Grassland Mike McNamee monitors breeding grassland birds with the Bird Conservation Network and breeding marsh birds with the Calumet Marsh Bird Survey. He helped gather and analyze the data for which Orland Grassland was named an Important Bird Area through Audubon Great Lakes. With the Orland Grassland Volunteers he leads bird walks and in other ways contributed to their being named Protector of the Environment – Group for 2019 by Chicago Audubon. 

Presentation: IL State Bird Debate

Bio: In July 2019, John Rogner was nominated by Governor JB Pritzker to serve as Assistant Director of the Illinois Department of Natural ResourcesFrom 2013-2018, John worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the Coordinator of the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative, leading a coalition of federal, state and private conservation organizations in Great Lakes Basin-wide collaborative natural resource planning.  During this period, he also provided leadership in the establishment of two new national wildlife refuges (Hackmatack and Kankakee) in the Chicago region, eventually serving as Manager of both. From 2009 - 2013 John served under an appointment by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn as Assistant Director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.  Prior to that he served as Field Supervisor of the Chicago Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a position he held since 1997.  He directed all of the Service’s programs in endangered species conservation, environmental contaminants, conservation planning assistance, habitat restoration, and environmental education in the six-county Chicago metropolitan area.  During this time, he also served as Chair of Chicago Wilderness, a coalition of over 240 organizations dedicated toward conserving the biodiversity of the Chicago region.  John began his career with the Chicago District of the US Army Corps of Engineers, where he held various positions implementing the regulatory program under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, eventually becoming Chief of the Regulatory Branch.  Mr. Rogner has undergraduate and graduate degrees in biological sciences from Northern Illinois University.

Presentation: Ecuador: The birding gem of South America

Bio: Born and raised on the coast of Ecuador, it was a backpacking trip through the Andes that inspired Paúl’s career in nature and conservation. After graduating with a BS in Ecotourism and Ecology from the Universidad Católica de Quito, his passion for birds led him to work as a naturalist in many regions in Ecuador including the Cloud Forest and Amazon Rainforest. He eventually accepted a position as Trip Expert and Operations Manager for Backroads Active Travel in Ecuador, while expanding his guiding career to Peru, Cuba and Hawaii. Currently living in Chicago, Paúl is still strongly connected to Ecuador as a trip sales agent for Neotropical Nature and Birding Trips.

Presentation: Lesser Known Lake County: The Rollins Savanna Area and Millennium Trail North Through the Seasons

Bio: Honors Biology/Human Genetics Teacher for 32 years at Libertyville High School. BA in biology from Lawrence University in Appleton, WI and MS in Biology from Northeastern IL Univ. in Chicago. Married to Michelle Schaefer for 28 years and we have 2 children, Doug (26) and Hannah (25). I am the Lake County Big Day record holder along with Andy Stewart and Eric Lundquist. I’ve been birding extensively since 2007 and am currently doing a Green Big Year in Lake County mostly by bike. Join me at Beausbirds.com.

Presentation: Birding in Montana: Where the Prairie Meets the Mountains

Bio: Adam doesn't remember a time when a pair of binoculars wasn't around his neck.  He was mentored by his father and other local birders in north Texas, and later by the incredible birding community of the Chicagoland area.  He is currently on the board of the Illinois Ornithological Society and is the lead counter and data compiler for the Fort Sheridan Hawkwatch in Lake Forest, Illinois. A middle school educator, Adam is a natural teacher who loves spending his summers guiding.  He sets out to ensure that both the novice birder and world lister having an incredible experience in the field. Adam leads trips in North, Central, and South America. When not birding, Adam enjoys the study of all other aspects of nature, fly fishing, and relaxing in the outdoors with his wife, Tiffany.

Presentation: Underbirded Areas Along the Des Plaines River

Bio: Douglas Stotz is a senior conservation ecologist in the Keller Science Action Center at the Field Museum. He received a B.S. in Biology from the University of Arizona and his Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology from the University of Chicago in 1990.  He is active in programs to preserve biological diversity and threatened habitats, both in the Chicago region and in other countries. In Chicago, he focuses his attention on studying bird migration, the effects of climate change on bird populations and the value of urban area to the conservation of biodiversity.  He is a co-chair of the Climate Change Committee for Chicago Wilderness. Besides his bird work, Doug is part of the Keller Science Action Center’s Monarch team, working to make sure that urban areas live up to their potential for providing habitat and milkweed to this declining migratory butterfly.

He also has a long history of research and exploration in South America across 35 years.  Stotz did his dissertation research on the ecomorphology of antwrens throughout Brazil, and then spent two years at the Museu de Zoologia of the Univeridade de Sao Paulo as a post-doc. As part of the Field Museum’s  tropical Rapid Biological Inventory teams, Dr. Stotz has participated in more than 25 inventories in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia and Cuba as well as one in China.  

Doug is an author of two books on Neotropical birds; Birds of Peru, a landmark fieldguide to the more than 1800 species of birds in Peru, and  Neotropical Birds: Ecology and Conservation, which provides information on the distribution and ecological patterns of over 4000 Latin American birds and uses that information to analyze conservation priorities. He also researches the ecological basis for geographic patterns of species diversity and endemism, especially along elevational gradients.  Dr. Stotz is also a member of the American Ornithologists’ Union’s Checklist Committee for both North and South America, responsible for the taxonomy and English names of the birds of the Americas.

Presentation 1: The Maine Mystique: Atlantic Puffin, Canada Jay, Spruce Grouse, Bicknell’s Thrush, Harlequin Duck, Common Eider and other Special Birds of Maine & How to See Them

Presentation 2: Conservation & Birding in the World’s Last Great Wilderness - the Billion-bird Nesting Ground that is North America’s Boreal Forest

Bio: Dr. Jeffrey Wells is Vice President of Boreal Conservation for National Audubon and a Fellow of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Prior to coming to Audubon, Dr. Wells worked the last 15 years as the Science and Policy Director for the Boreal Songbird Initiative and the chief science advisor to the International Boreal Conservation Campaign. Through this work he has been at the forefront of advocating for increasing benchmarks for protected areas goals in Canada’s Boreal Forest region where over 154 million acres have been protected since 2000 and where hundreds of millions of more acres are slated for potential protection over the next 10-20 years. He is one of the nation's leading bird experts and conservation biologists. Dr. Wells is an active speaker and writer having penned hundreds of papers, reports, op-eds, articles, columns, and blogs. He has written, co-written, or edited many books including Important Birds in New York State (1998); Birder’s Conservation Handbook (2007); Boreal Birds of North America (2011); Maine’s Favorite Birds (2012); and Birds of Aruba, Bonaire & Curacao (2017). He was a contributor to Birdwatching in Maine: A Site Guide (2017) and is part of the author team that recently completed the unfinished work of the late Peter Vickery's spectacular book, Birds of Maine, to be published by Princeton University Press in 2020.

Presentation: Disappearing Birds of the Midwest

Author and photographer Matt Williams shares some of the stories behind the declines of many of our most loved bird species in the region and uses his photography to highlight the beauty of these fascinating birds and inspire further conservation efforts.

Bio: Matt Williams has worked for The Nature Conservancy for over twenty years. Matt’s first assignments with TNC were as a seasonal field biologist helping map nesting habitat for the federally endangered Golden-cheeked Warbler on the Fort Hood military base in central Texas, and using radio telemetry to track Attwater’s Prairie-Chickens along the Texas Gulf Coast. These roles quickly turned into a full-time land manager position at the Conservancy’s 2,300-acre Texas City Prairie Preserve where Matt continued to work closely with the prairie-chicken recovery efforts, as well as assisting with prescribed burns and controlling invasive species.

In 2001, Matt accepted a land steward position with the Indiana Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, where he managed about a dozen Conservancy properties across the north-central part of the state. In 2015, Matt became the Director of Conservation Programs for Indiana, and he now oversees the Chapter’s land protection, science, stewardship, forest and freshwater conservation projects.

In addition to his work for the Conservancy, Matt is an author and nature photographer. His recent books include, Indiana State Parks: A Centennial Celebration, and Endangered and Disappearing Birds of the Midwest - both published by Indiana University Press. Matt also wrote the foreword for the newest edition of Birds of Indiana, which is being released in the spring of 2019. Matt, his wife, and their four children live in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

Presentation: Learning to Bird by Ear: Recognizing Birds by Their Vocalizations

Bio: Geoff Williamson loves sharing his extensive state, country, and world birding experience. He holds leadership positions in local, state, and national birding organizations and received the American Birding Association's Ludlow Griscom Award, given for outstanding contributions in regional ornithology.