Field Trip Leaders 2019

Terry Allen is a lifelong resident of Talbot County, MD, and resides in Easton with his wife Patty and dog Harpo. His first serious interest in birds was sparked at age 12 by the enchanting sound of migrating geese. Terry is a 4-term past president of The Talbot County Chapter of the Maryland Ornithological Society and continues to guide bird outings for the Talbot Bird Club, the Delmarva Birding Weekend Smith Island tour, and since 1983, birding tours at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.

George Armistead, a birder since the age of 9 years old, has a long history in connecting people with nature through ecotourism and expedition travel. Currently he is chief network officer at Rockjumper Worldwide Birding Adventures, which operates  birding tours, photographic tours, and wildlife safaris to over 100 countries. A professional wildlife guide with 20 years of experience, George has led trips to all continents, and has authored two books on birds including Better Birding: Tips, Tools, and Concepts for the Field (2015, Princeton University Press) and The ABA Field Guide to the Birds of Pennsylvania (2016, Scott & Nix, Inc.). Based in Philadelphia, he grew up birding the Delmarva Peninsula, and especially Talbot and Dorchester counties. He received a masters degree in environmental studies at the University of Pennsylvania, is an associate at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and spends much of his free time outdoors, studying birds and nature around Philly and beyond. 

Dr. Wayne Bell is Senior Associate and former Director of the Center for Environment and Society (CES) at Washington College.  His birding includes education and outreach activities through CES, the Youth program of the Maryland Ornithological Society (YMOS), the Pickering Creek Audubon Center (Easton, MD), and the Academy for Lifelong Learning of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (St. Michaels, MD).

Chris Bennett was born and raised near Schenectady, New York (near the eastern end of the Mohawk River Valley in east central New York – it wasn’t Upstate New York to him!). He earned a BS degree in Zoology from the State University of New York at Oswego. His interest in birding was born on the icebound shores of Lake Ontario during his Junior year in College. Chris has worked as a naturalist and environmental educator in New York, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio and Delaware. He is currently the Environmental Stewardship Program Manager with Delaware State Parks. Chris birds most often the Delaware Bay shore region between Bombay Hook and Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuges. Chris is a fieldtrip leader for the Delmarva Ornithological Society. He is a member of the Delaware Bird Records Committee, compiler of the Milford Christmas Bird Count and Regional Compiler for the Second Delaware Breeding Bird Atlas. Chris lives with his wife Karen near Milford, Delaware.

Dave Bent spent 44 years in various management positions with a large printing company before retiring in 2005. In 2008, he saw an Audubon advertisement for people to do bird surveys, so he went to the meeting and signed up with Audubon. Dave discovered a wonderful retirement hobby – bird watching. He joined the Talbot County Bird Club in 2010, and has met many very knowledgeable birders. He volunteers at Pickering Creek Audubon Center, where his activities include coordinating the bluebird nesting program, bird surveys, leading bird walks, and serving as a member of the Board of Trustees.

Tim Carney has been interested in birds since age 9, but credits eBird and working at one of the premier birding sites in Maryland with turning his interest into a passion. As an Environmental Specialist with the Maryland Environmental Service (MES), Tim conducts bi-monthly censuses at the Cox Creek, Masonville, and Poplar Island projects operated by MES on behalf of the Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Port Administration. Tim holds a Bachelor’s in Environmental Biology from Towson University, and is also an eBird reviewer and served on the Maryland Ornithological Society Records Committee from 2015 – 2018. His favorite Maryland bird is the Blackburnian Warbler. He loves birding the diverse habitats Maryland offers and is attempting to observe 200 species in all 23 Maryland counties.

Chris Eberly was born in Maryland and grew up in Pennsylvania. He attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania and graduated with a B.S. in computer science. After 11 years in the computer industry he enrolled at the University of Georgia and earned an M.S. in natural resources, focusing on ornithology. He has worked in bird conservation ever since and seeks to enlighten birders about the need to secure their avocation’s resource through conservation. Chris has been Director of the Maryland Bird Conservation Partnership since 2017. He loves birding in Latin America and the Caribbean, having been to Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. Teaching new birders (especially on vocalizations) is a favorite reason for Chris to lead bird walks, but he will find any excuse to be out birding.

Jeff Effinger was born on the Eastern Shore and has lived here most of his life, except for 9 years in North Dakota. He has been birding since 1968.

Walter Ellison is a 17-year resident of Kent County born and raised in northern New England. He has been a birder since early childhood and has studied birds professionally since 1976 with a focus on bird distribution. His first bird specimen, a Common Yellowthroat according to his mother, was collected by the family cat Pandy when he was three years old. He completed work in 2010 as the coordinator of the second Maryland and D.C. breeding bird atlas, a comprehensive study that mapped the nesting ranges of all of Maryland and D.C.’s breeding birds. Walter has seen over 90% of the birds recorded in Kent County with 237 of those species in his home in the Hanesville-SE atlas block.

Maren Gimpel is Field Ecologist and Outreach Coordinator at the River & Field Campus (formerly Chino Farms), overseen by Washington College’s Center for Environment & Society where she bands birds for both migratory and breeding studies. A bander since 2002 and a birder for over 25 years, Maren compiles the local Chesterville Christmas Bird Count. Before coming to Washington College, she worked on avian research projects from Nova Scotia to Tobago.

Anthony Gonzon has lived his entire life in the great state of Delaware.   Anthony has been participating in outdoor activities since his early days fishing and camping and has been regularly birding in Delaware for nearly two decades.  Calling New Castle County home for more than 40 years, Anthony received his B.S. from the University of Delaware, double majoring in Wildlife Conservation and Entomology. Anthony began his career in wildlife as a piping plover monitor at Cape Henlopen State Park in 2004 and has been working for the Delaware Division of Fish & Wildlife since 2007 in a number of roles including as the coordinator of the 2nd Delaware Breeding Bird Atlas, non-game bird biologist and currently as the coordinator of the Delaware Bayshore Initiative. Currently president of the Delmarva Ornithological Society, Anthony leads a number of trips for the club.  In addition, he is a member of the Delaware Birds Records Committee, compiler for the Middletown Christmas Bird Count and participates annually in the Delaware Bird-A-Thon along with teammate Chris Bennett and others.  Anthony lives in Middletown, Delaware with his wife Kim, daughter Kayla and son TJ.

Kevin Graff began birding at nine when his family took him to the zoo, where he became enamored with the flamingos. He leads many trips for the MOS and the Baltimore Bird Club. Kevin maintains field trip records that he submits to MDOsprey and eBird. Because of his hearing impairment, Kevin cannot bird aurally, but he makes up for that by his keen eyesight. Kevin likes leading walks because he can help people in their birding efforts, and he enjoys pointing out other creatures like butterflies, dragonflies, and amphibians.

Kevin and Karen Heffernan live in Howard County and have been birding in Maryland, the U.S. and oversees for decades. They also enjoy nature photography and butterflying. 

Cheryl Hogue began birding because of a requirement to take a zoology course for an undergrad biology degree. A friend talked her into taking ornithology and the rest is history. Cheryl serves on the council of the Montgomery Bird Club and carries her binoculars wherever her professional and personal travels take her. She is a writer for a large scientific society in Washington, DC.

Hank Ingersoll is a retired physician and avid birder who started birding with his father on the family farm near Chestertown, MD. After college Hank moved to California where he lives in La Jolla, Ca. He is past president of the San Diego Field Ornithologists. He has a particular interest in birding by ear. Hank returns to the Eastern Shore of Maryland every year and counts birds.

George Jett and Gwen Brewer have led field trips for MOS conferences (including listers’ trips) and presented talks on their travels together for bird clubs for over 15 years. Gwen manages the science program for rare species at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and previously was a professor at Frostburg State University.  George is retired from the Environmental Protection Agency and is an avid nature photographer- check out his photos at georgejett.net. When not looking for birds, mammals, and herps in far-off places, they enjoy birding and kayaking from their property near Jug Bay in southern Anne Arundel County.

Mark S. Johnson is an environmental toxicologist at the U.S. Army Pubic Health Center at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. He received his B.S. in Biology from Towson University, his M.Sc. in Entomology and Applied Ecology from the University of Delaware, and Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology at the Virginia-Maryland School of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Dr. Johnson is a past president of the Maryland Ornithological Society and the Associate Editor of Maryland Birdlife. He is also chair of the Tri-Service Toxicology Consortium and chair of the Ecological Risk Assessment World Interest Group of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC).

Nancy Martin has lived in Kent County since 2002 when her husband Walter Ellison began work as coordinator of the second Maryland and D.C. breeding bird atlas (BBA). Nancy began birding in her home state of Vermont. She served 14 years as naturalist for the Vermont Institute of Natural Science. In that role she was involved in many aspects of the first Vermont BBA from 1975 to 1980. These duties included field work during the project and illustrating, writing accounts, and drafting maps for the final book. Currently Nancy serves as president and field trip co-leader (with Walter) for the Kent County Bird Club.

Kristina Motley has been interested in birds since childhood, when she would watch them for hours at her backyard bird feeder. Her passion for bird conservation grew through her experiences volunteering at a local nature center with non-releasable raptors. After spending a few years as a Seasonal Naturalist at Meadowside Nature Center in Rockville teaching all about Marylands natural and cultural history, she moved to the west coast for a field season with University of California, Davis studying spotted owls in the Sierra National forest. Enjoying the west coast, she then worked as an educator with Explorit Science Center in Davis where she created programs and a gallery exhibit for their Feathers in Your world community science project focusing all on the science of feathers. She currently works as an Environmental Specialist with the Maryland Environmental Service providing tours of Poplar Island, an ecosystem restoration project in the Chesapeake Bay. Kristina holds a Bachelor’s in Environmental Studies from Slippery Rock University, is a Maryland Master Naturalist, and a Certified Interpretive guide.

Dave Powell has been an avid birder in Maryland for over 25 years and has enjoyed being a part of the birding community here in Maryland and around the country. He has recently retired from the Maryland Park Service, where he spent 35 years as a Park Ranger / Park Manager.  He was raised in and currently resides in Montgomery County in with his wonderful wife.   

Jim Rapp currently serves as director of the Hazel Outdoor Discovery Center. Prior to holding this post, he was the director of the Salisbury Zoo for 14 years before being tapped in 2007 as the director of Delmarva Low Impact Tourism Experiences, a business-sponsored nature tourism outfit created to entice tourists with birding, paddling, and cycling trails and events. Rapp is President of the Assateague Coastal Trust and Chair of the Maryland DNR Wildlife Diversity Advisory Committee. He was named Tourism Person of the Year in both Wicomico and Worcester counties in 2004 and 2006 respectively. In 2015 he formed Conservation Community Consulting, LLC with his business partner, Dave Wilson, to help promote conservation and nature tourism. Jim and Dave operate the award-winning Delmarva Birding Weekends.

Mark Scallion grew up bush whacking around the woods of Pootatuck State Forest in Western Connecticut. There he developed his connection with trees, plants, birds and the wild world. He served as a dendrology teaching assistant at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry before coming to the Eastern Shore for an internship at Pickering Creek Audubon Center in 1995. Today he is the Director of Pickering Creek Audubon Center and has resided at the Center for over twenty years. He has the luxury of stepping off of his porch daily and seeing and hearing his many avian neighbors daily.  He is a past President of the Talbot Bird Club.

Steve Sheffield is a field biologist and ecologist, and serves as Professor of Biology at Bowie State University in Bowie, MD.  His taxonomic expertise is in birds, mammals, and herps in particular. Steve has participated in various bird counts (CBCs, migratory bird counts, BBSs, BioBlitzes, etc.) for many years.  Regarding birds, he is especially interested in raptors, particularly owls.

After years of seasonal field work traveling around the country, Dan Small settled down in Chestertown, MD in 2006 while working for the University of MD at the Chester River Field Research Station. At CRFRS, Dan helped with the summer breeding bird research and banded migratory birds in the spring and the fall. He works for the Center for Environment & Society at Washington College  coordinating the Natural Lands Project, where he works with landowners on the upper shore who are interested in adding grassland habitat or wetlands to their properties to help declining wildlife populations. 

Jim Stasz tells us: My dad was a birdwatcher, so I have been birding more than 60 years. I have been birding Maryland since 1975 and have focused on the temporal and spatial distribution of species. I’m a co-author of The Yellow Book, 1996 with Bob Ringler and Marshall Iliff. For two years I ran a bird-banding station at St. Timothy’s School in Baltimore County, worked two years at the Division of Birds at the National Museum of Natural History cataloging eggs, nests and skins of birds of the World and lived at Irish Grove Sanctuary for a year while working for The Nature Conservancy at Nassawango Creek Preserve. During this time I made a special study of the molts and sequence of plumages of Myrtle, Audubon’s and Magnolia warblers….discovering that no one had previously correctly described the plumage of adult female Magnolia! I am currently looking at the hybrid zone of Carolina and Black-capped Chickadees in western Maryland. In addition to birds I do lots of botany and have recently started examining the distribution of lichens and mosses in Maryland.

Dave Wilson spent 18 years (1997-2015) working for the Maryland Coastal Bays Program—the first 10 as their public relations guru and the last eight as the Executive Director of this National Estuary Program, based in Ocean City, Md. As director, Wilson helped put nature tourism and wildlife front and center by securing funding for a variety of nature parks and trails including 1,000 acres of new county nature parks and the conversion of the Ocean City dump to a kayak launch. Wilson was named Tourism Person of the Year in Worcester County in 2005. In 2015 he formed Conservation Community Consulting, LLC with his business partner, Jim Rapp, to help promote conservation and nature tourism. Dave and Jim operate the award-winning Delmarva Birding Weekends.