Monarch Monitoring Project Field Naturalist
Lindsey had such a wonderful experience working with the Monarch Monitoring Project last fall that she returned once again and is now in her second field season with the team. Before transitioning to butterflies, Lindsey spent the spring and summer living in Cape May, working with endangered beach nesting birds for New Jersey Fish and Wildlife. She graduated in April 2014 from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan with a bachelors degree in film studies. Her goal is to combine her love of the arts with her desire to protect endangered species, making conservation concerns engaging to a broad audience through documentary filmmaking.
Katie Burns
Monarch Monitoring Project Field Naturalist
Katie Burns recently graduated from Wheaton College in Massachusetts with a degree in Environmental Science with a biology concentration. As a born and bred Mainer, she spent her childhood catching bugs and exploring the beaches and forests of her rural home, quickly discovering her passion for field research. She believes that the best way to inspire an interest in conservation is through education, and aspires to become a science writer for non-scientific audiences in order to make researchers’ findings more accessible to the general public. Katie spent the last two summers working with native bee species in Vermont and California and is thrilled to continue her study of native pollinators this summer in Cape May. In coming years, she hopes to continue proving her integrity as a researcher and credibility as a writer through fieldwork and public outreach opportunities. She plans to continue her academic career through graduate school within the field of conservation biology, particularly pollinator conservation.
Interpretive Naturalist
Although hailing from Southern California, Tara is a recent graduate from St. Lawrence University in upstate New York with a degree in Conservation Biology. Tara recently finished working for the New York State Office of Parks and Recreation where she worked as an environmental educator and boat steward looking for aquatic invasive species along the St. Lawrence River. She is excited to be a part of the Naturalist team for CMBO this season, learning and teaching all there is to know about raptors! Among a myriad of things, Tara has a strong passion for wildlife and conservation, as well as environmental outreach and education, and hopes to continue her education through graduate school in Marine Ecology.
Hawkwatch Counter
Cameron Cox is returning to Cape May for his fourth season as a counter. The Cape May bug infected him during his first season as a CMBO interpretive naturalist 17 years ago. After six years away the bug compelled him to return, this time for his first full season as the primary hawk counter. Since last in Cape May his book, Peterson Reference Guide to Seawatching, co-authored with another former Cape May counter, Ken Behrens, was published. When not looking at birds in Cape May, Cameron works as a birding and photography guide for Tropical Birding Tours, though his favorite tour destination, Alaska, is decidedly non tropical. He lives in Tampa Florida with his wife and two indoor cats, RUTU and Rectrix.
Morning Flight Counter
Glen hails from Brooklyn, NY, but has called Cape May home for more than 16 years. Simply put, he loves living and birding here! Working for CMBO in fall 1999 (and subsequently in falls of 2007 and 2014) made the biggest of impacts on him. Glen has/has had lots of jobs: professional tour leader, biological consultant, grad student, bartender, musician, school teacher, garbage man, veterinary technician are some of these. He has traveled, explored, and birded in 47 states and over 20 countries. Glen has worked seasonally for CMBO as a researcher, naturalist, and salesperson and is very excited to be returning as this fall season's official songbird counter with the Morning Flight Project. He resides and engages in BBQ in Cape May Point with his wife, Christina "Kashi" Davis.
Jacob Drucker
Interpretive Naturalist
After coming to terms with the fact that he could not be a dinosaur when he grew up, Jacob settled for pursuing birds instead. The recent finding that most to all dinosaurs likely had some kind of feathers has opened that old wound right back up. Jacob is really excited to be in Cape May and shares this joy with his friend, the Black Swan. Undergraduate coursework in ornithology, music, and jiving at Hampshire College is seen by Jacob to be extremely lackluster now that he's gotten a taste of the The Point. But field seasons in Peru, Colombia, and China were pretty awesome, too. His greatest claim to fame, perhaps, is almost converting Peter Dinklage to birding.
Skye Haas
Seawatch Counter
Skye is a birder-naturalist from Marquette in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He has spent the last 15 years working as a contract biologist for The Nature Conservancy, both the Wisconsin and Michigan Breeding Bird Atlases, Whitefish Point Bird Observatory, Michigan Audubon and several other organisations. Skye also runs his own birding guide service Borealis Birding. Skye is the chairman of the Laughing Whitefish Audubon Society and is a member of the Michigan Bird Records Committee. But he is happiest when just wandering the world looking at birds and other fantastical critters. Skye is delighted to be returning to Cape May for a second fall as the Seawatch Counter and hopes to repeat last year's performance and break the record yet again!
George Myers Field Naturalist
While growing up in upstate New York, Margeaux Maerz spent her summers exploring Stone Harbor and Cape May. She lived in Georgia for 8 years where she studied Ecology at the University of Georgia and worked as a naturalist and teacher throughout the state as well as in Costa Rica, New Zealand, and Australia. Margeaux's greatest passion lies in environmental education and sharing her enthusiasm for what she loves with others. She started working for NJ Audubon last summer as a teacher-naturalist at the Nature Center of Cape May and continued her work into the fall with CMBO as an Interpretive Naturalist on the Hawkwatch platform. Margeaux was thrilled to return to Cape May this spring and has been serving as the George Myers Naturalist since May, splitting her time between both the Nature Center of Cape May and CMBO. She loves being a part of this incredible community and can't wait to see all the amazing birds (and birders) that make it to Cape May this fall!
Interpretive Naturalist
Born and raised on the beaches of Florida, Erin’s early experiences with birds mostly entailed fighting gulls for her snacks and lunches. While attending the University of Florida, Erin began working with Northern Mockingbirds on campus and discovered a love of birds that eventually drove her to add a double major in Zoology to her Psychology major. After graduating, Erin worked as a field technician for the Neighborhood Nestwatch project through the Smithsonian, banding and monitoring backyard birds in local yards throughout Florida. It was here that she realized a passion for environmental education and sharing with homeowners the ecological importance of birds and avian conservation. Erin is excited to continue to share her love of birds with others on the Hawkwatch platform.
Migration Count Coordinator
A native son, Tom Reed picked up birding at the age of 10 and has always been especially fascinated by migration. He has traveled through much of North America, with assignments ranging from Piping Plover surveys in the Bahamas, to the waterbird migration count at Whitefish Point, Michigan, to tour-leading in Alaska. Tom serves as a Regional Editor for the journal North American Birds, a voting member on the New Jersey Bird Records Committee, and an Associate Naturalist with CMBO. Most recently, TR initiated Cape May’s first-ever spring migration count in March 2015. Tom is also heavily involved in youth birding initiatives and currently serves as the Communications Manager at the Race 4 Birds Foundation.
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