2020 Keynote Speakers

Nathan Pieplow
Nathan PieplowThursday, Feb. 13th
Nathan Pieplow is the author of the Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds. An avid bird sound recordist and videographer, he is also the author of the bird sound blog, Earbirding.com, an author of the Colorado Birding Trail, and former editor of the journal, Colorado Birds. He teaches writing and rhetoric at the University of Colorado.

Nathan is the Associate Director of the Global Studies Residential Academic Program at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Gerrit Vyn
Gerrit VynFriday, Feb. 14th
Gerrit Vyn is Wildlife Photographer and Cinematographer for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a Senior Fellow at the International League of Conservation Photographers and has been photographing birds and wildlife professionally for the last 25 years. His most recent book, The Living Bird, was a New York Times Bestseller and National Outdoor Book Award winner. He is best known for his work documenting endangered birds and conservation issues around the world and is a sought-after speaker on topics of birds, conservation and photography. His work is published regularly in magazines including National Geographic, BBC Wildlife and Audubon and has been featured in media outlets including NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Morning Edition, and The Seattle Times.

Rosemary Mosco
Rosemary MoscoSaturday, Feb. 15th
Rosemary Mosco is a nature cartoonist and writer. She makes comics and educational charts for her site Bird And Moon, writes articles for Audubon, and creates books for kids, including Solar System: Our Place In Space and the New York Times best selling Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid. Her comics were the subject of an award-winning museum exhibit at Cornell’s Museum of the Earth. Her favorite bird is the Laysan Albatross.

Other Leaders and Presenters

Alex Lamoreaux

Alex Lamoreaux has been an avid naturalist since he was a youngster, growing up exploring the farmland and forests near Hershey, Pennsylvania. His love of wildlife and his desire for adventure has led to traveling extensively throughout the United States, Central America, and South Africa. He has worked on many wildlife research projects, ranging from Whimbrel staging on the coast of Virginia to nesting Yellow-billed Cuckoos in the desert southwest. His main interests are the visible migration of birds, especially raptors. Alex loves to share his knowledge of nature, and works to bring the birding community together to share in the enjoyment that spending time in the wild has to offer. He is currently a senior leader and North American specialist for Wildside Nature Tours, where we leads 16 birding and nature tours annually across the country and beyond.

Bill Gogo

Bill’s initial career was spent in the graphic arts industry. About four years ago, he found new inspiration to fuel his photography passion when a Bald Eagle landed near him and stayed for over an hour. Since that day, he became a dedicated avian and wildlife photographer and grew into a prolific digital photographer as well. Most days will find him out in the Klamath Basin practicing his artistic craft. His stunning photos have won multiple photography awards and have been published in magazines. Many are available for purchase at the Klamath Art Gallery and Two Rivers Gallery. He’s a PPA and Nikon Professional Service Member.

Brian Woodbridge

Brian received a BS degree in wildlife ecology at Humboldt State University in 1983, and a MSc. in Wildlife Ecology at Oregon State University (Swainson’s hawks) in 1991. He worked as a Wildlife biologist with the US Forest Service from 1985 to 2003, and then with the US Fish and Wildlife Service from 2003 until his retirement this year. His research and management focus has been on birds of prey and forest/rangeland management in the Pacific Northwest, Chiapas Mexico, and Argentina.

Damian Fagan

Damian Fagan is a naturalist and guide living in Bend. A former Park Ranger and contract biologist, Fagan leads natural history tours for Wanderlust Tours and the Central Oregon Community College’s Continuing Education program. He feels most at home while wandering through forests at night listening for owls. He is also a freelance writer and author of several wildflower and hiking field guides.

Darrel Samuels

Darrel Samuels, a retired teacher, is currently President of the Klamath Basin Audubon Society. Having lived in Klamath Falls for almost 14 years, he and his wife Diana (Festival co-coordinator) are enthusiastic birders and feeders of birds and have succeeded in drawing in a wide range of species into their backyard. In addition to the more usual culprits (flickers, nuthatches woodpeckers, chickadees, juncos), some more infrequent visitors have been: White-headed and Pileated Woodpeckers, Sooty Grouse, Barred, Great Horned, Barn and Great Gray Owls.

Dave Hewitt

Dave is a research fish biologist with the Klamath Falls Field Station of the U.S. Geological Survey. He moved from Virginia to Klamath Falls in 2008. Dave didn’t start birding until some fellow students at North Carolina State University coerced him into it in 2002, but he’s been obsessed ever since. Dave is a long-time member of Audubon and has served on the Board of Directors for the Klamath Basin Audubon Society. He helps to maintain the Klamath County bird checklist, runs the regional email listserv, and serves as regional reviewer for eBird in Klamath County.

Debra Davis

Debra grew up in the Northwest and has always been a student of the natural world. Her love of birds in particular took root while living in Michigan in the 1990’s. Since returning to her home state of Oregon she has spent a lot of time birding the Klamath Basin and is especially drawn to the waterfowl that grace this special place.

Dick Ashford

Dick is Director Emeritus of the Klamath Bird Observatory and former Board Chair of the American Birding Association. He is also a former Mayor of Sonoma, California. He has spent hundreds of hours in the field watching hawks and an equal amount of time researching their natural history. Dick leads hawk-watching outings in both California and Oregon, and is a graduate of both the Institute for Field Ornithology’s Winter Raptor Workshop and Cape May Bird Observatory’s Hawk Identification workshop.

Jan Walker

Jan was raised on a potato farm outside of Malin, Oregon and is descended from the original Czech settlers coming to Malin in 1909. She and her husband Bill own Gold Dust Potato and Walker Brothers Farms that operate out of Malin but encompass farm land all over the Klamath Basin. They raise conventional and organic Chipping Potatoes, Alfalfa Hay, Wheat, Barley and Hemp. She has been active with the Oregon Rural Tourism Studio and the Cultural Heritage Agri-tourism Team. As a member of the Rural Klamath Connects group she is involved in promoting five small towns of the rural Klamath Basin: Bonanza, Merrill, Malin, Tulelake and Dorris.

Joe and Cordi Atkinson

Joe and Cordi Atkinson have been married for 43 years and have a ranch in Eastern Oregon where we live with a myriad of horses, dogs, cats, and birds. They are both Master Falconers and for 20+ years have used falconry techniques to prepare young golden eagles that have found themselves in wildlife rehabilitation centers, for return to life in the wild. They also have three non-releasable golden eagles that have been filmed by countless production companies for programs aired on PBS (most recently The Sagebrush Sea), BBC, Nature, National Geographic, Nat Geo TV, The Smithsonian Channel, Animal Planet and Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Their work with golden eagles has taken us across the globe to destinations such as the UK, Czech Republic, and United Arab Emirates. In 2015 they were commissioned by Cornell Lab of Ornithology to go to the Philippines and train the rarest eagle in the world, the Philippine Eagle, to be filmed as part of a documentary drawing attention to its critically endangered status. Cordi founded a non-profit (CMA Fund) to raise funds in support of the Philippine Eagle conservation efforts.

Joe Miller

Joe Miller is a self made craftsman who does not know the word “failure” when it comes to working with metal. Growing up in Klamath Falls has made it easy for him to learn the ways of the natural world that surrounds the basin. As an avid outdoorsman Joe has the sensitivity to know what needs to be done to insure that Stefan Savides’ works get put together correctly. Joe is a master at making Savides bronze look good. He is the guts of their operations as he is responsible for all assembly of the sculptures. Wax castings are created here and sent out to a foundry and when they return, the transformed waxes, now raw metal pieces, will be welded together. He then painstakingly grinds the welds making them disappear and thus form the completed bronze sculpture. Joe will be on hand to answer questions and give you a first class tour of the Savides studio and home.

John Vradenburg

John Vradenburg joined the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges team in July 2015 as a supervisory wildlife biologist. He previously served in the same position at Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico for 9 years. A Minnesota native, he spent his younger years in Northern Minnesota and his teens in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri. Always eager to accomplish more for wildlife, John was recognized as Employee of the Year in 2015 for his management plan for the New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse before it was listed in 2014, and for providing opportunities for youth to learn on the refuge. He and his wife Leigh Ann enjoy bird watching and fishing with their 3 children ages 21, 7, and 6 yrs.

Karl Wenner

Karl has lived in the Klamath Basin since 1989. He is an orthopedic surgeon by profession but has an MS degree in Wildlife Biology, serves on the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, and was instrumental in creating and currently serves on the board of the Klamath Watershed Partnership. He has led the Beginning Birding field trip for the past two years and enjoys sharing his passion for birdwatching with novices of all ages.

Kate Marden

Owner and Master Falconer – West Coast Falconry

Kate has been a falconer since 1998 and is an experienced speaker and educator. Her work with birds of prey predates her years as a licensed falconer. Kate has worked in bird of prey interpretive programs at Renaissance fairs, corporate events, schools, historical events, Scottish games, wildlife festivals, and resorts. Kate has flown her birds in videos and on shows such as Mythbusters, National Geographic, KQED, Wreakreation Nation, Unchained Reaction, Mancations and Methods of Take. She specializes in training her raptors outside of the box. Her vision for creating a falconry center in the United States that is accessible to everyone is the seed that grew West Coast Falconry.

Kevin Spencer

Kevin recently retired as a teacher for the past 24 years. He graduated with a B.A. degree in Forestry from Humboldt State University in 1979. Kevin has been interested in nature since an early age and focused on birds for the past 35 years. He was a contributing author to Birds of Oregon: A General Reference, and an editor of the South Central Fieldnotes for Oregon Birds. For the last 23 years, he has been a compiler for the Klamath Falls Christmas Bird Count and a field trip leader for the Klamath Basin Audubon Society. Since the mid-1990s, Kevin has been involved with the Klamath Bird Observatory as a Point Count Surveyor, conducted USFWS Breeding Bird Surveys in Klamath and Lake Cos., and has been the compiler for Klamath County’s part in North American Migration Counts. His best “Big Day” in Klamath County was 171 species last spring, and has seen or heard over 315 species in the Klamath Basin.Kevin is considered one of the best birders in the Klamath Basin. He has been involved with the Bald Eagle Conference and the Winter Wings Festival since 1992.

Marshal Moser

Marshal Moser is a Certified Wildlife Biologist, consultant, natural history
guide, and retired manager/biologist at Lonesome Duck Ranch, a fly fishing
resort on the Williamson River, 25 miles north of Klamath Falls. He has
guided nature lovers as far as the Amazon and he operates mostly in the
Klamath Basin from Crater Lake National Park in the north, to Lava Beds
National Monument to the south in California. He has traveled, photographed,
and studied natural history on 5 continents. He began naturalizing and
birding in Oregon in the early 1970s and liked southeast Oregon so much he
moved to the area in 2006. He was the founding Executive Director of the
Ohio Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, high school to college biology
instructor, and owns his own environmental consulting company, EcoServices,
since 1978. He works with terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, wetland and
water issues, endangered and invasive species, fishing, birding, grazing,
native plants and natural landscaping.

Matthew Stuber

Matthew Stuber has been a wildlife biologist and studied/managed raptors for the US Fish and Wildlife Service for 8 years. He is currently the Eagle Coordinator for the states of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The bulk of his duties revolve around managing/studying eagle populations in the Pacific Northwest, but he also works with a variety of other raptor species. Matt got his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, and his Master of Science (in Raptor Biology) at Boise State University. He presently lives in Corvallis, OR with his wife and twin 4-year old sons.

Max Waugh

For nearly two decades, Max has been photographing wildlife, travel and sports professionally. He is the most recent winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Black and White category, had the most commendations of any photographer in the 2017 Windland Smith Rice Awards, and is a two-time winner of the MalaMala Photographer of the Year competition. Max’s work has appeared in such publications as Africa Geographic and ESPN the Magazine, and has been displayed at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and the Natural History Museum in London.

Max leads photo tours in the Pacific Northwest, Yellowstone and overseas, with a heavy emphasis on biodiversity and destinations that offer a variety of subject matter.

Mel Clements
Mel Clements is a self taught amateur bird photographer who was born and raised in southern Oregon. After graduating from Ashland Senior High School, he volunteered for a four year enlistment with the United States Marine Corps – which included a 13 month combat tour in Vietnam. He was honorably discharged with the rank of Staff Sergeant. He returned to Ashland where he spent the next 27 years with the Ashland Police Department, retiring with the rank of Captain.
His interest in serious bird photography began in 2012. Late in 2012, he conceived and began a project of creating a four part seasonal DVD series of birds of the Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuges. His photographs are of wild birds taken in their natural habitat with as little interference as possible. Mel considers a successful shoot as – once the photograph is taken and he leaves – the bird is not aware that he was even there. During 2019 he has logged 303 Great Gray Owl sightings though mid-November.

Russ Namitz

Russ Namitz, currently a wildlife biologist, spent the year 2011 chasing birds around the state in an attempt to break the Big Year record for Oregon. He drove 41,000 miles, ate 48.5 feet of Subway sandwiches and pushed the record up by 18 species.

Stefan Savides

Stefan’s talents could be measured by his accomplishments in the art world, which are many and have spanned a lifetime, however what is more important is the essence of his life. From a young adult he has built a thriving career in art “outside the box”. It is the blessed few who are born into this world with a passion that was not to be interrupted by the complexity of the modern day we live in. He has embraced a total connection to the beauty and teachings of nature, which has guided his choices at each crossroad he’s encountered. The common thread, which binds his life is birds and his work embodies the fruit of that journey. His sculptures and other pieces of art will be on hand for viewing in F35 Savides Bronze Sculpture and Taxidermy Tour and More.

Stephen Rooker

Steve Rooker has worked as a conservation officer for twelve years with both the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He started his career as a Ranger Naturalist at Shenandoah National Park in 1998 and transferred to the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel, Florida one year later. Since then, he has worked as a Park Ranger at Saguaro National Park in Arizona, Wrangell St. Elias National Preserve in Alaska, and the Black Hills of South Dakota. Rooker grew up in Staunton, Virginia and earned a bachelor’s degree in Forest Recreation Management from Mississippi State University in 1997, and attended graduate school at Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources in 2005 and 2006. He currently is employed as the Visitor Services Specialist at the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex in Tulelake California.

Steve Ball

Steve is a photo industry veteran and nature / birding photographer based in the Pacific Northwest. Washington is where he has found a serious passion for bird photography with its diversity of habitats and environments. As a former photojournalist he has learned to hone his skills and share them with those who love and appreciate photography as he does. Steve strives to share the concepts for capturing better images easy to understand for beginners through advanced photographers.

Tim Boyer

Tim Boyer is an award winning,full time nature photographer whose images have been published in many bird and nature magazines. He enjoys sharing his knowledge of photography and birds through workshops and presentations. In October of 2017 he started a YouTube channel where he posts bird photography tutorials every Wednesday and has just published Learn the Art of Bird Photography, The Complete Field Guide for Beginning and Intermediate Photographers and Birders.

Todd Kepple

Tom Essex

Tom Essex is a retired former secondary educator, specializing in physical sciences and environmental sciences. He is primarily involved in a variety of conservation organizations, including the National Audubon Society and local Klamath Basin Audubon Chapter, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and a local trout fishery conservation group.