Gavin Bieber
Gavin was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He developed a very early interest in birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles and has steadily pursued these interests while growing up in British Columbia, Virginia Beach, Great Britain and Denmark. One of his earliest birding memories occurred at age 8 when he spotted a male Painted Bunting from a speeding car while on a family vacation in Texas. Gavin graduated from the University of Victoria with a degree in Biology and a minor in Environmental Studies. He studied for one year at the University of Southern Mississippi where he collaborated with their Migratory Bird Study Group. While still in university he taught waterfowl, shorebird and passerine identification workshops for the Victoria Natural History Society and led fieldtrips for the university’s ornithology classes. Since graduating, Gavin has worked as a field assistant on a variety of ornithological research projects including studies of the wintering ecology of Henslow’s Sparrows, the breeding biology of Interior Least Terns, and the stopover ecology of Swainson’s Thrushes and Gray Catbirds. In addition he conducted point counts for the National Park Service in Arizona and New Mexico and assisted in setting up a riparian bird survey for the University of Arizona. He has traveled extensively through Western Europe, North and West Africa, Bolivia, Peru, Panama, Mexico, the U.S., Canada, and Alaska. Recently his interests have shifted to the neotropics, and he is very excited by the potential offered by his newly constructed tour to Panama. He also serves as the director and lead guide for St. Paul Island Tours (in the Pribilof Islands, Alaska) and has enjoyed working on that island from 2002-2007. Gavin enjoys sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm of the natural world with others, and welcomes the chance to meet new people and travel throughout the New World.
Richard Carlson
Richard is a full-time birder and part-time economist. As an economist he has worked on some of the nation's most complex economic and environmental issues. He began his career at the Office of Management and Budget in Washington, D.C. and then moved to the Stanford Research Institute in Palo Alto, CA. He is co-author of 2020 Visions: Long View of a Changing World (1991), Energy Future, Human Values and Lifestyles (1982), and Solar Energy in America's Future (1977).
Mr. Carlson is a near life-long birder and naturalist. He was President of the Harvard Outing Club and has been a trip leader for the Maryland Ornithological Society, Santa Clara Audubon, Lahontan Audubon and Tucson Audubon. In Washington DC he was active in the Maryland Ornithological Society where he ran some of the first Breeding Bird Surveys. In the San Francisco Bay Area he was active in Santa Clara County Audubon and was President of the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory.
He and his wife Pat moved to Tucson in 2003. They spend their summers with their grandchildren in Kirkland, WA or at their second home at Lake Tahoe. He leads the weekly birding trips at Agua Caliente Park.
David J. Dunford
Dave was born in New Jersey and grew up in Connecticut. He has also lived in Massachusetts, California and Virginia. He became a birder a little over ten years ago after he and his wife Sandy moved to Tucson following 29 years in the U.S. Foreign Service. His Foreign Service assignments included Ecuador, Finland, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Oman where he was the U.S. Ambassador. He was one of the first civilians to go into Baghdad after the U.S. invasion in 2003. He teaches courses on the Middle East at the University of Arizona and is on the Governing Board of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Dave is also a Woodrow Wilson Visiting fellow, spending a week every year on the campus of one of the participating small colleges and universities throughout the U.S. He always brings his binoculars along.
Dave has been leading field trips for Tucson Audubon since 2005.
Sandy Elers
Sandy was born and reared in Tucson. She graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in Elementary Education. Married to Karl Elers two days after graduation, she followed him around the Sun Belt as he persuaded a career in mining. Although there were many family members and friends interested in birds and wildlife, and even the occasional Audubon member, it wasn't until Karl introduced Sandy to a roseate spoonbill on a mine reservoir in east Texas that she became interested in pursuing birding. During a visit to the Houston Audubon Nature Shop in the 1980s, she was invited to attend docent training and an Audubon volunteer was born. She started volunteering in middle school and finds it to be a satisfying way to keep interest high and give back to the community. Involvement with galas and development in general with the Houston chapter led her to pursue the same interests in Tucson. Her other interests include Catalina High School Foundation (founding member); her family (husband Karl, two children and six grandchildren); Princess, her lap dog; and cooking. And someday she would like to have more time to go birding!
Debra Finch
Deb grew up in Detroit, Michigan. She spent many years in Ann Arbor after receiving a Bachelor's degree and Ph.D. in nursing from the University of MIchigan. Deb grew up with backyard birding and some forays to Point Pelee National Park. Her interest in birding peaked after a visit to Trinidad and Tobago with her parents in their retirement. Her career led her to Houston, Boston, and Phoenix and now to Tucson where she is the Chief Nursing/Chief Operating Officer at Carondelet St. Joseph's Hospital. The intervening years have been filled with many birding adventures.
Richard Fray
Richard grew up in Leicester, England, and encouraged by a father who ran the local youth birding club and an older brother who was twice named Britain's Young Ornithologist of the Year, he was birding as soon as he was big enough to lift a pair of binoculars. As well as birds, he is interested in all aspects of the natural world, especially butterflies, dragonflies and reptiles. He was the youngest ever member of the Leicestershire & Rutland Ornithological Society's committee and founded the Leicestershire & Rutland Dragonfly Group before moving to SE Arizona in 2002. He now can't imagine living anywhere else!
Richard's birding has taken him around Europe and Asia as well as North, Central and South America, and he started a new company, Fun Birding Tours (www.funbirdingtours.com) in 2010. He is a current member of the board of directors of Tucson Audubon Society, serving on the development and membership committees.
Robert D. (Bob) Hernbrode
Bob is an Arizona native who grew up in Payson. After completing a degree in Wildlife Management at the University of Arizona and two years in the Army, Bob went to work for the Arizona Game and Fish Department as a wildlife manager in Yuma and later as a biologist in Tucson. In the late 1970s Bob moved his young family to metro Denver to begin a career with the Colorado Division of Wildlife. After working nearly 28 years for that state agency in a variety of senior biologist positions, Bob and Janine retired and moved back to Tucson. In doing so, they are close to family, friends and our beloved Sonoran desert.
Since our return to Tucson in 2004, Bob spent a year on a State parks Trails committee and 5 years as an Arizona Game and Fish Commissioner. Bob is a hunter, angler, birder and volunteer archeology site steward.
John Kennedy
John Kennedy retired from business management and moved to Tucson in 2007. He has become active in the area by serving as an advisory board member for the Sky Ranch HOA and through public participation in the ongoing development of the Town of Marana's Habitat Conservation Plan. He and his wife Sarah joined the Tucson Audubon Society in 2009. They also are supporters of other important southern Arizona organizations including the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, The Empire Ranch Foundation, the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum and Tohono Chul.
Moving from Minnesota to southern Arizona brought exposure to a very different group of birds and other wildlife. Back yard birding has developed into a passion for the Kennedys and a source of inspiration for John's photography. He has donated bird and animal photographs to the town of Marana for use on signage for parks and hiking trails.
In addition to photography, John enjoys hiking, tennis and travel.
R. Cynthia Pruett
For a long period I was what you might call a "lapsed birder". I started birding in college with a boyfriend who became my husband and we traveled all over the United States while he was in the service; leading to a pretty comprehensive bird list. Then suddenly, other life activity got in the way and for about 25 years birding was shelved. In the late 80's I was introduced to an avid woman birder at an environmental conference and the passion came back. My work career involved many executive jobs, some of them key environmental positions, which only reinforced my understanding of the need to protect important habitat around the world. It's (the birding) led to many trips to many countries, a joy of seeing both new and revisited birds and of course, to becoming active in Audubon chapters, both here and in Virginia.
Ruth Russell
My attraction to birds and other wildlife took a jump start many years ago when my mother took my sister and me to a weekend gathering at a nearby park in central New Jersey, where the local bird club hosted a monthly breakfast walk. It was an exciting time in my young life, made most pleasurable by the picnic which included a hot dog bun filled with scrambled eggs and bacon. I don't remember the birds but the thought of the delicious food has stayed with me and perhaps somehow contributed to my growing interest in the outdoor world. Since that time the field trips and my memories of them have grown to become an important part of my life. I enjoy watching birds and their behaviors everywhere I am fortunate to visit, and also enjoy doing what I can to help protect the birds and their habitats.
Thirty-some years ago I joined the Tucson Audubon board, eventually serving as president for four years. Beginning in 1992 I was elected to the first of two terms as the regional representative to the National Audubon Society board, and then served two additional terms as Vice-Chair of the board. Since 2002 I have been a member of the board of Audubon Arizona, currently serving as secretary.
Linda Stitzer
Linda grew up in suburban California but her family often camped in what is now Joshua Tree National Park. That experience resulted in an appreciation for nature and the desert that has continued through camping, hiking and travel with her husband and their two children. She enjoys working in her mostly native and small vegetable gardens and goes birding when she can.
Linda worked for 25 years at the Arizona Department of Water Resources in a variety of water resource planning positions until taking a job in 2011 with Western Resource Advocates, a non-profit legal and policy organization that matched her water resource experience with her interest in environmental protection. Linda currently works in the San Pedro and Verde river valleys to create solutions to meet human water needs while minimizing impacts to these rivers.
Linda holds degrees in environmental science/biology and soil and water science. She has lived in Tucson for over 30 years and served previously on the TAS board including as Secretary. She began her present term in 2010 and serves on the conservation and nominations committees.
Herb Trossman
Herb is a retired New York City attorney who has been coming to Tucson since the mid 1980's and has been living here full time since 1998. He joined National Audubon Society in the early 1970's and became a member of the New York City chapter where he served on the board for many years. He was awarded its Chapter Member Award in 1998. He is a member of the American Littoral Society a national, not-for-profit, membership organization, dedicated to the environmental well being of coastal habitat with about 10,000 members. He went on the board of that organization in the mid 1980's and served 2 terms (1994-1998) as President. Upon moving to Arizona he became a part-time farmer when he took over the management of a 40 acre pistachio orchard in Cochise County and was the President of the Arizona Pistachio Association for many years. He and his wife were among the founding members of the Southeast Arizona Butterfly Association (SEABA). In 2005 he became a member of the Board of Directors of the Tucson Audubon Society and the Board of the Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute (SASI). In 2006 he was appointed to the Citizens Accountability for Regional Transportation (CART) Committee. CART determines whether the Regional Transportation Authority is implementing the plan as approved by the voters of Pima County in May, 2006. Herb served as President of Tucson Audubon's Board of Directors for two terms beginning in 2007.
Claire Zucker
Claire grew up in east Tennessee where her back yard forest was host to a resident Pileated Woodpecker and which, one year, produced a pair of orphan mockingbirds that she raised. Her love the outdoors, backpacking, and river rafting motivated her to study the natural world, and she received her bachelor's in geology from University of Tennessee, followed by a Master's from University of California, Santa Barbara. Claire came to Tucson in1993, and since that time she worked for Pima Association of Governments where she is currently the Director of the Sustainable Environment Program. Through her work, she has conducted research on the hydrology and habitat of Cienega Creek, water wells in the Tucson area, and various water resource and water quality projects. She works through public events/committees and through PAG's committee to provide information and facilitate discussion about water resources, wildlife, restoration, habitat, the urban/green interface, and low impact development among other issues. Claire is also on the Executive Board for the Southern Arizona Buffelgrass Coordination Center and on the Board of Directors of the University of Arizona's Conserve to Enhance program. She and her husband, Steve Richard are the proud parents of two daughters who attended Khalsa Montessori, Basis Middle School and University High School, and who found both amazing academic opportunities as well as wonderful involvement as Irish dancers in our Tucson community. Claire is also past president and board member of Tucson Friends of Traditional Music, with which she teaches and calls American folk dances, called contra dances. She sang and played bodhrán with local Irish band Round the House for 12 years, and is currently in the duo Púca in addition to occasionally touring with the contra dance band, STEAM. Her newest instrument, the Anglo concertina, is not exactly quiet, but she and her backyard birds have adjusted quite nicely to sharing the musical air space.
