BirdNote Team

Board Members  -  Production Team  -  Staff  -  Other Team Members

BIRDNOTE BOARD

Sarah Merner - President
Sarah's passions are teaching kids about nature and getting everyone — most of all children — into the out-of-doors. Over the last 20 years, Sarah has taken a deep interest in environmental concerns, ... read more >>

Ernesto Aguilar - Vice President
Ernesto is a journalist, author, podcaster, public speaker, radio producer and thought leader. His endeavors focus on democracy, inclusion and engagement, via the National Federation of Community Broadcasters ... read more >>

Adam Sedgley – Secretary
For over a decade, Adam has specialized in marketing and digital strategy at several nonprofits, including Seattle Audubon, BirdNote, and Conservation International in Washington, DC, where he now lives. A founding staff member of BirdNote in 2004 ... read more >>

Jon Barwick - Treasurer
Jon Barwick is the president and chief executive officer of Barwick and Partners, a multi-family office. Jon and his wife Allison enjoy all things outdoors, including golf, skiing, biking, hiking, paddling and fishing, and... read more >>

Madeline Buelt – Board member-at-large
Madeline has 42 years of nursing and healthcare experience, with 25 years in leadership and administrative roles. She is a member of numerous professional organizations, including .... read more >>

Tom R. Darden – Board member-at-large
Tom Darden is a retired biologist who received his PhD from the University of California and then spent two years as a post-doc at the University of Washington. His research efforts during those years focused on the European Starling ... read more >>

Owen Deutsch - Board member-at-large
Owen Deutsch, a Chicago native, had a twenty-year career as a fashion photographer. He retired in l986 to devote full time to his second business, Loft Development Corporation. In 2002, when a close friend asked... read more >>

Margie Kim - Board member-at-large
Margie is Chief Advancement Officer at Los Angeles Philharmonic. Her love of birds was ignited when she did her first Audubon Birdathon in southern Arizona, and it solidified when … read more >>

Julianne Lamsek - Board member-at-large
Julianne’s been interested in birds since she was a child, when she cared for a juvenile Tree Swallow for three weeks and then released it into the wild. … read more >>

Dan Moore - Board member-at-large
Dan has nearly 20 years’ experience as an entrepreneur, professional travel guide, and environmental educator. Dan is the CEO of Pandion Consulting & Facilitation, a travel industry consultancy and facilitation company based in Seattle... read more >>

Deborah Rivel - Board member-at-large
Deborah Rivel has had a varied career. Recently she co-authored a book on birdwatching, Birdwatching in New York City and on Long Island. Her company, Wildtones,  produces nature-based products for smartphones. ... read more >>

Jerry Tone - Board member-at-large
Jerry was a vice president in the real estate lending department at Wells Fargo Bank. He currently serves on The Trust for Public Land's national board of directors and on the board of the Seattle Parks Foundation ... read more >>

Nils Warnock - Board member-at-large
Nils Warnock is currently the Director of Conservation Science at Audubon Canyon Ranch in the Bay Area of California. Nils is a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society and has more than 30 years of experience pertaining to the ecology ... read more >>

DIRECTORS EMERITUS

Drew Lanham
Drew is a Clemson University Master Teacher and Alumni Distinguished Professor in wildlife ecology. His research interests lie in songbird ecology and conservation, integration of game and nongame wildlife management ... read more >>

Tom Luhman
Tom is a retired senior manager from the Boeing Company, who holds a PhD in materials science. He has more than 30 years of experience in program management, strategic planning, and organizational leadership ... read more >>

PRODUCTION TEAM

WRITERS, EDITORS, AND SCIENCE ADVISORS

Ashley Ahearn - Editor / Producer / Writer
Ashley Ahearn is an award-winning public media journalist who has covered science and the environment for NPR and member stations for more than a decade. Ashley’s stories have appeared on the BBC, All Things Considered, Here and Now, The World and other NPR shows ... read more >>

Tom Bancroft - Science Advisor
Science advisor Thomas Bancroft is a writer-photographer focused on the natural world. His goal is to capture people’s imagination, encouraging them to think about life, nature, and the importance of protecting wild things. His Ph.D. is in ornithology, and he was the vice president of the research department at the Wilderness Society and Chief Scientist for National Audubon. He now lives in Seattle, where he ... read more >>

Trina Bayard- Science Advisor
Trina Bayard earned her PhD in ecology at the University of Connecticut, studying habitat selection behavior in Saltmarsh Sparrows. Her background includes field studies of birds, plants, and other wildlife in the western United States and coastal New England. As director of bird conservation at Audubon Washington, Trina works to advance the conservation of resident and migratory birds, ... read more >>

Ellen Blackstone- Writer / Photo & Web Editor / Associate Producer
An Iowa girl, Ellen started birding at the age of 8, helping her father with his “bluebird trail” of more than 40 boxes. Ellen now puts her passion to work for birds and nature. After a few years in tech, she edited Seattle Audubon’s newsletter, Earthcare Northwest ... read more >>

Megan Friesen - Science Advisor
Megan Friesen has worked for the past decade in avian ecology, conservation, and research. She received her PhD in biology from the University of Auckland studying the sensory ecology and conservation of tube-nosed seabirds. ... read more >>

Monica Gokey - Writer
Monica Gokey is a science writer and radio journalist from west-central Idaho. Her work has aired on public radio stations throughout the West and Alaska, and on podcasts like Out There and Outlandish. ... read more > >

Gordon Orians - Writer / Science Advisor
Gordon Orians began birding as a child in Wisconsin. At the age of 13, when he discovered that people were actually paid to watch birds, he decided to pursue a biological career. After getting a bachelor's degree in zoology ... read more >> 

Dennis Paulson - Science Advisor / Writer
Dennis Paulson received a PhD in Zoology from the University of Miami, and taught college and adult-education courses about natural history for 35 years. He recently retired after 15 years as the Director of the Slater Museum of Natural History ... read more >>

Todd Peterson - Writer / Editor
Todd spent summers in his boyhood outside along the shores of Coeur d’Alene Lake and the St. Joe River in Northern Idaho. Later, he explored the marshes of Long Island Sound during days afield with his father ... read more >>

Bryan Pfeiffer - Writer
A writer and field biologist, Bryan explores the wild places where people and nature converge. His essays have appeared in The New York Times, Orion, Field & Stream, and elsewhere. When he’s not chasing nature, Bryan teaches writing to ... read more >>

Bob Sundstrom - Lead Writer / Science Advisor
Bob leads birding tours year round for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours. Tours have taken him many places throughout the world. He has taught many birding classes for Seattle Audubon, and he leads regional tours through Mercer Island Parks ... read more >>

Frances Wood- Writer
Frances Wood inherited her love of nature from her writer-naturalist father and a mother who loved to garden. Writer, artist, teacher, and mother of two sons, Frances completed the Master Birding course offered by Seattle Audubon ... read more >>

Rick Wright - Writer
Rick Wright has long been fascinated by birds, birders, and birding — though not necessarily in that order. A native of southeast Nebraska, Rick studied languages, philosophy, and life sciences at the University of Nebraska, ... read more >>

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PRODUCER

John Kessler
John was musical director of Public Radio International’s Mountain Stage radio show for 14 years. After years as a traveling bass-player, John settled in the Shoreline neighborhood of Seattle with his wife, a cat, and a big black dog ... read more >>

NARRATORS

Mary McCann
Mary McCann creates with sound – as a poet, Internet Radio music director, award-winning broadcast radio DJ, and online radio jazz host, producer, and performer. She's traveled the world by motorcycle ... read more >>

Michael Stein
Storyteller Michael Stein draws on a wealth of life experience as a construction worker, radio DJ, producer, Keith Moon-clone, baker, and record label dude. He travels a bit, works some, speaks passable German (with a "Schwabisch" accent) ... read more >>

Frank Corrado 
Frank Corrado first became aware of the wonder of birds when he was a young child in the wilds of Brooklyn, New York. The long streets of his neighborhood were home to countless thousands of pigeons and nearby Prospect Park ... read more >>

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STAFF

Sallie Bodie, Executive Director
Sallie has worked with public broadcasting and nonprofit programming including the Smithsonian, the Corcoran Gallery, National Public Radio, and the Seattle Symphony. She currently consults as a project manager... read more >> >>

Jessica Rugh Frantz - Director of Development
Jessica brings a love of the natural world and a passion for data-driven decision making. Prior to joining BirdNote, Frantz worked as the Director of Membership and Operations for the Public Radio Program Directors Association (PRPD) ... read more >>

Roderick Campbell - Development Manager
While founder and CEO of CommitChange, Roderick raised venture capital from A-list investors, worked directly with over 250 nonprofits in the United States, and increased online giving by 110-175% for case study nonprofits. He has explored 40+ countries ... read more >>

Allison Wilson - Production Manager
Allison oversees the daily shows and a growing catalog of bold podcasts. She brings enthusiasm to build a larger, more diverse audience for BirdNote through compelling stories packaged with effective social media, creative marketing, and  ... read more >>

Mark Bramhill - Producer
A radio producer with a love for both technology and the environment, Mark can usually be found either online or on a trail. A former intern of NPR’s Planet Money and an alum of the Transom Story Workshop, he's also creator and host of the podcast Welcome to Macintosh ... read more >>

OTHER TEAM MEMBERS 

Kristine Johnson - Graphic Designer
Kristine Johnson holds a Bachelor of Fine Art in BioCommunications, Master of Associated Medical Science, and several years of post-graduate study in visual communication design at the School of Visual Concepts ... read more >>

Katie Meyer - IT / Digital Producer
Katie Meyer is a native-born Washingtonian. She has worked with Seattle internet and software companies and brings a background in web design and development, production, and content creation, plus a fascination with birds and the natural world. Read more >>
 

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VOLUNTEERS

BirdNote is grateful to the many volunteers who contribute their time and talent, helping our organization to grow. Read more >>

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