Leaders/Presenters
BJ Matzen
BJ is one of the Klamath Basin’s elite birders, with over 39 years of experience observing and photographing the Basin’s avifauna. He regularly participates in field trips and national surveys and often shares his own observations with other local birders. Over the past 20 years he has led Elderhostel and other birding groups in the Basin. BJ was a charter member of the Klamath Basin Audubon Society and has served as its President multiple times. BJ has undergraduate degrees in both Animal Science and Fish and Wildlife from Oregon State University and a law degree from Willamette University. He has spent 45 years practicing law in Eastern Oregon and hopes to be retired by February.
Darrel Samuels
Darrel Samuels is currently a Board member of the Klamath Basin Audubon Society and past President and Vice President of KBAS. Having lived in Klamath Falls for almost nine 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, some more infrequent visitors have been: White-headed and Pileated Woodpeckers and a Sooty Grouse.
Dave Haupt
Dave Haupt is a Klamath Falls resident, where he teaches biology and art at Tulelake High School. Dave got his start in birding while at the University of California, Santa Barbara. There he worked as a consultant for many years in the management of Bell’s vireo and other endangered bird populations. Since moving to southern Oregon in 2000 his work with the Klamath Bird Observatory as well as personal endeavors has given Dave keen knowledge of the area’s avifauna.
Dave Hewitt
Dave is a research fisheries 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.
Dick Ashford
Dick is a past Board President of the Klamath Bird Observatory and former Board Chair of the American Birding Association. He is also a board member of the Crater Lake Natural History Associationand 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.
Gary Ivey
Dr. Gary Ivey has worked with wildlife for over 35 years, concentrating his work on waterbirds, waterfowl and wetland conservation in the western U.S. He served as a biologist at several western National Wildlife Refuges for 18 years, including 15 years at Malheur NWR. He has worked for International Crane Foundation since 2007, serving as their lead for sandhill crane conservation and research in western North America. He studied wintering ecology of sandhill cranes in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta for his PhD through Oregon State University. Gary also serves on the Board of The Trumpeter Swan Society and is their lead on Oregon’s Trumpeter Swan Restoration project.
Gerry Hill
Gerry Hill, a life-long birder and 8 year amateur bird photographer, has a passion for his “subjects”. He has lived at the Running Y for the past 10 years and the bird numbers and diversity played a large part in his choice of this area for retirement. He looks forward to sharing many of the “local bird gems” with Winter Wings participants at the Feeder Hop.
H
arry Fuller
Harry Fuller is a bird guide and author who lives in McMinnville, OR. He has been leading birding trips for two decades and currently works for Partnership for International Birding. He’s led trips for Golden Gate Audubon, Pt. Reyes Field Institute and Klamath Bird Observatory (KBO). He is past president of the Board of Directors for KBO. He is co-founder of the Ashland Christmas Bird Count. He has authored two books, one on birding Interstate 5 is Freeway Birding [freewaybirding.com] and his latest Great Gray Owls of CA-OR-WA,. His birding blog is at atowhee.wordpress.com
Jana Barkley
Jana Barkley, master falconer and Senior Staff member, is an experienced educator and lecturer. Her energy and enthusiasm for the sport of falconry has impressed her audiences. She is also a published writer whose work revolves around her passion for the sport of falconry. She is a past director for the California Hawking Club.
Jim Stamates
For more than 30 years Jim Stamates, of Low Impact Wildlife Photography, has been producing stunning images of Natural History, Wildlife, and Landscapes for publication and advertising world wide. A quarter of a million of his photographic prints have been sold through Galleries, Gift Shops and to collectors across the globe.
Jim majored in photography in the late sixties and after a short stint as a commercial photographer in San Francisco where he photographed Janice Joplin, The Jefferson Airplane, and Richie Havens among others, he married and moved to Lake Tahoe. Surrounded by nature in the high Sierra’s he focused his talents on the photography and preservation of wild lives and wild lands.
Because of his “low impact” philosophy, Jim was chosen by the National Wildlife Service to document the nesting of the American White Pelican on Pyramid Lake, NV. It was the first time that anyone had been allowed to place a blind at the nesting site and stay overnight on Anaho Island National Wildlife Refuge, which is closed to the public. From this unique experience, Jim created an educational audio-visual presentation called “Pelicans of Pyramid” which has been enjoyed by numerous groups, including the Audubon Society, Nature Conservancy, and visitors to the Stillwater/Fallon National Wildlife Refuge. For Jim, respect for wildlife takes precedence over “getting the shot.” His philosophy is rewarded by a unique intimacy with his subjects. Dedicated to the proper and ethical behavior toward nature, Jim champions his “low impact field techniques” through his In The Rhythm™ Tours and Workshops that emphasize the well being of the subject while getting ‘into’ natural rhythms.
Jonne Goeller
With over 60 fine art exhibits in the Northwest during the past 32 years, Jonne has a wealth of ideas to share. Her work has received awards from Eastman Kodak, Photographer’s Forum Magazine, the Corvallis Art Center and the Klamath Art Gallery. She has received Best of Show Awards from the Oregon State Fair and the National Stereoscopic Association. Her work is currently being shown in Klamath Falls at the Klamath Art Gallery, Wyatt’s American Eatery at Running Y Resort, the Klamath Art Gallery, and at MC’s on Main Restaurant. The Crater Lake mural in downtown Klamath Falls was based on her photo “Out of the Mist.”
Jonne has a Master’s degree in Art Education from the University of Oregon with an emphasis on photographic education and spent 32 years teaching photography in Oregon high schools. She also served on the Board of Directors for the Photozone Gallery and PAO Gallery in Eugene, Oregon. She is currently on the board of directors for the Klamath Art Gallery.
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
Kate Marden, West Coast Falconry owner and senior staff member, has been a falconer since 1998. She is an experienced speaker and educator. Her life has been so filled with animals that the local firefighters, visiting her home to check firebreaks, called her Dr. Dolittle. She is a successful business owner in Marin County specializing in canine care. 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, Historical Events, Scottish Games and schools for more than a decade. Kate has flown her birds in videos and on shows such as Mythbusters, Wreakreation Nation, Unchained Reaction, Mancations and Methods of Take. Kate’s vision for is to create a falconry center in the United States that is accessible to everyone is what started West Coast Falconry.
Kevin Spencer
Kevin has been a teacher for the past 23 years. He is currently a fifth grade teacher at Tulelake Elementary School. 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.
Lexi Crawford
Lexi represents Walker Brothers Farms, our host for the Behind the Scenes: Potato Fields to Wetlands field trip. Bill and John Walker started farming together over 40 years ago with only 200 acres and have grown their dream to currently farm about 10,000 acres. They employ 75 year round full time employees. This 4,000 acre property you are visiting today was added to the farm in 2012. They have approximately 1,000 acres of organic ground in production up here and have produced high quality crops with very little inputs due to the highly organic soils. They start flooding every year in late October that not only benefits the farm ground but also the winged wildlife that frequent this area.
Mars
hal Moser
Marshal is a consultant and manager/biologist at Lonesome Duck Ranch on the Williamson River, 25 miles north of Klamath Falls. He also leads tours in the Klamath Basin, specializing in Crater Lake National Park. Having traveled and studied natural history on 5 continents, he began naturalizing and birding in Oregon in the 1970s and liked southeast Oregon so much he moved to the area in 2006. A Certified Wildlife Biologist, he was the founding Executive Director of the Ohio Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, college biology instructor, and has owned 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 landscaping.
Pamela Llewellyn
Pamela Llewellyn is a wildlife enthusiast and photographer who has been leading local birding trips for the Golden Gate Audubon Society for the past 12 years. Prior to that she spent five years as a bander and docent for the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory. She has lead bird trips through Point Reyes Field Seminars (PRNSA), Oakland Bird Club and has banded with the Point Reyes Bird Observatory (Point Blue). She has worked as a local bird guide on board Delphinus for Dolphin Charters taking groups on trips throughout the waterways of the San Francisco Bay and its tributaries.
Russ Namitz
Russ Namitz has traveled and birded extensively in the western US, Mexico & Central America and has also birded in South America and Asia. He has been leading pelagic tours in Oregon since 2007. He currently divides his time teaching Biology part-time for Rogue Community College and conducting wildlife surveys for consulting firms and government agencies
Steve Rooker
Steve Rooker has worked as a conservation officer for sixteen 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.
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.
Zia Fukuda
Zia grew up in the Klamath Basin and graduated from Oregon State University in 2010 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fish and Wildlife. She has worked for the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service as a wildlife technician, working primarily with northern spotted owls for the last seven and a half years. She has also done work with other owls and raptors, as well as a stint working with sea otters in Big Sur, California. She got hooked on birding when a former supervisor pointed out a gray jay at a Sno-park in Bend. Zia now lives in Grants Pass and has become an active member of the Josephine County chapter of the Audubon Society.