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Don Arnosti is Forest Program Director at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, where he works on sustainable development concerning forests and communities. Don served as Executive Director of Audubon Minnesota from 1990 – 2000. He serves on the Board of the Audubon Center of the North Woods and was a founding Board Member of the Minnesota Environmental Initiative and the Minnesota Environmental Fund.

Kelly Applegate is the Wildlife Biologist for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and specializes in Purple Martins. He has over 20 years working with Purple Martins to educate the public, and conserve the breeding population. He is recognized by the Purple Martin Conservation Association as a mentor for potential landlords. He serves on the committee and as a speaker for the Minnesota MartinFest, giving many beginners the knowledge they need to become successful Purple Martin landlords. He currently manages seven colony sites throughout central Minnesota, ensuring that Martins remain in key habitat areas.

Al Batt of rural Hartland, Minnesota is a writer, speaker, storyteller and humorist. Al, who was born and raised on a farm near Hartland, lives in the Batt Cave with his wife Gail (a.k.a. “The Queen B.”) Al writes four weekly humor and nature columns for many newspapers, and does a show three times per week about nature on a number of radio stations. He writes a number of popular cartoon strips that are syndicated nationally and has written jokes for a former President of the United States. He has written for a number of magazines and books, including the Chicken Soup For the Soul series. He is a contributing author to the book, Minnesota Bird Watching. He is a columnist for Naturescape News. Al appears each week on “Memories and Musings by Al Batt” on KSMQ-TV. He has written for the movies. He speaks at various festivals, conferences, and conventions all over the United States. He has been named Birder of the Year by WildBird Magazine. He has received the Ed Franey Conservation Media Award from the Izaak Walton League. Al leads tours to Alaska, disappears into the woods whenever he is able, usually on the pretext that he is “taking the dog for a walk,” and speaks to anyone who will listen. His mother thinks he is special.

Francie Cuthbert, Ph.D. has studied waterbirds in the Great Lakes region for several decades. Her focus is the biology and conservation of colonial waterbirds (particularly terns and cormorants). Currently she coordinates the U.S. portion of the Great Lakes Colonial Waterbird Survey which obtains population estimates and determines distribution for about 15 breeding species in the region. Additionally, Francie also coordinates research for the recovery of the Great Lakes Piping Plover population. She is a professor in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities where she advises graduate students and is also interim department head.

Laura Erickson is the writer/producer of the radio program "For the Birds," which airs throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin. She is the author of 101 Ways to Help Birds, Sharing the Wonder of Birds with Kids a National Outdoor Book Award winner, For the Birds, and a frequent contributor to Audubon and Birder's World. She is a licensed bird rehabilitator and lives near Duluth.

Matthew A. Etterson, Ph.D. After completing his undergraduate work in mathematics, Dr. Etterson began working in applied conservation biology in 1989 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire), where he managed a radio-telemetry study of Okapi (Okapia johnstoni) for the Wildlife Conservation Society. Since then Dr. Etterson has conducted research both domestically and internationally on issues related to avian conservation, including research on behavioral ecology of Loggerhead Shrike in Oklahoma, the effects of forest fragmentation on avian reproductive success in central Virginia, and avian community recovery with forest succession in northern Lower Michigan. From 2000 to 2002 Dr. Etterson was a Research Fellow at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, Washington DC. Currently he is a Senior Research Associate with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Duluth, MN, where he has been working to develop methods for improving avian risk assessment for pesticides. He also works with the Natural Resources Research Institute in Duluth on methods for analysis of avian trends and avian reproductive success. Dr. Etterson holds a B.A. in Mathematics and Philosophy from Yale University, 1987, and a Ph.D. in Conservation Biology from the University of Minnesota, 2000.

Bruce A. Fall is Associate Education Specialist in the Biology Program in the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota, where he teaches introductory biology. He also has taught many ornithology classes through the Compleat Scholar Program at the U of M. Fall is especially interested in warblers and has conducted research on the changing distribution and hybridization of blue- winged and golden-winged warblers in Minnesota, and the breeding biology of hooded warblers. He is a past recipient of the Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union T.S. Roberts Award.

John Flicker is President of National Audubon Society and grew up on a small family dairy farm in Minnesota where he learned to love the outdoors. He studied at Crosier Seminary in Onamia Minnesota from 1963 to 1968. After receiving a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota in 1971, and a law degree from William Mitchell College of Law in 1974, he became a staff attorney for The Nature Conservancy. During his 21-year tenure with The Nature Conservancy, he held various positions including: Great Plains Director for the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas; Florida State Director; General Counsel in their Washington DC area Home Office; and eventually Chief Operating Officer. In 1995, Flicker became President of the National Audubon Society in New York. During his tenure there he more than doubled the size of the organization with a strong emphasis on building conservation capacity at the state and level. He has opened 24 new state offices for Audubon, and launched over 50 community-based Audubon Centers. He also played a leadership role in key national issues including protecting the Everglades, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Mississippi River, and Long Island Sound.

Diane Granfors, Ph.D. received a BS in Wildlife Biology from Colorado State University. She gained experience with Missouri Department of Conservation, Idaho Fish and Game, National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service. She obtained a MS in Wildlife Biology from Texas Tech University studying nesting success of Eastern Meadowlark on CRP. She received her Ph.D. in Wildlife Biology from South Dakota State University studying Wood Duck Brood Ecology on Prairie Rivers. She spent 4 years at Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center studying grassland bird ecology. Now she is a Wildlife Biologist with US Fish and Wildlife Service in Fergus Falls, MN and has spent almost 6 years with Habitat and Populations Evaluation Team (HAPET). She has worked on non-waterfowl migratory birds- shore birds, grassland birds, secretive marsh birds. She has developed survey for these species and developed spatially explicit biological models as tools for conservation planning.

April Gromnicki is Director of Ecosystem Restoration in Audubon’s national policy office in Washington, DC. April leads Audubon’s national advocacy efforts for water resources and landscape-scale ecosystem restoration, including the Mississippi River - Coastal Louisiana, Everglades, Great Lakes, and Long Island Sound. Prior to joining the national policy office in 2005, April led Audubon’s Everglades Team, including policy, science, grassroots, and outreach staff, to develop and implement strategy and policy for Everglades restoration, and served as Audubon of Florida’s lead advocate for Everglades restoration with members of Congress, the federal administration and agencies. Prior to joining Audubon in 1996, April served as Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Governor’s Commission for a Sustainable South Florida, helping to shape and draft policy for balancing the environmental, social, and economic goals of the commission. April is a member of the Florida Bar, graduated cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law, and holds a B.A. in philosophy from the University of South Florida.

Dave Grosshuesch is currently a graduate student at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. His graduate research involves the nest site habitat of Northern Hawk Owls in North America. He has worked with the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory in Duluth, Minnesota since 1995, coordinating the Passerine Migration Research program and the Western Great Lakes Region Owl Survey. He has worked as a Biological Technician for the Natural Resources Research Institute in Duluth on the Forest Bird Monitoring and Canada Lynx projects. During the northern owl invasion of 2004/2005, he co-coordinated the Winter Owl Survey in Minnesota. When not coordinating survey projects or conducting research, he spends countless hours searching for and banding Great Gray and Hawk Owls during the winter months.

Cindy Hale, Ph.D. teaches Environmental Education and Ecology courses at the University of Minnesota Duluth and is a Research Associate with the Natural Resource Research Institute. She holds a B.S. in Ecology from the University of Minnesota, a M.S. in Environmental Sciences (UMD) and a Ph.D in forest ecology and science education from the University of Minnesota. As the founder of Great Lakes Worm Watch, Dr. Hale trains and collaborates with citizen scientists throughout the Great Lakes basin to monitor the spread and impacts of exotic earthworms. An award winning presenter, Cindy is active in the Duluth community and enjoys spending time outdoors. She lives just north of Duluth with her husband and daughter.

Carrol Henderson has been supervisor of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Nongame Wildlife Program since 1977. He has a B.S. in zoology from Iowa State University (1968), and a Master of Forest Resources degree from the University of Georgia (1970). He has been involved in restoring peregrine falcons, bald eagles, eastern bluebirds, river otters and trumpeter swans in Minnesota. Henderson is the author of seven books. He has written Woodworking for Wildlife, Landscaping for Wildlife, and Wild About Birds: the DNR Bird Feeding Guide and the "Field Guide to the Wildlife of Costa Rica." He is co-author of The Traveler’s Guide to Wildlife in Minnesota and Landscaping for Wildlife and Water Quality. His latest book, “Oology and Ralph's Talking Eggs", was published by the University of Texas Press in October of 2007. Carrol and his wife Ethelle have a special interest in gardening and landscaping for wildlife. They have developed their backyard in Blaine, Minnesota, with plantings of trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals and water features for wildlife since they first moved there in 1977.

Teri Heyer has worked for the USDA Forest Service since 1984 first in soils research, then watershed planning and rural development, next conservation education, and currently back to watershed planning. In the midwest Teri works closely with the states of MN,WI, MI, IN, IL, MO, and IA in addressing soil and water concerns as they relate to land use planning and forest management. She also coordinates the Upper Mississippi Forest Partnership focusing on promoting the role forests can play in addressing the regions critical water quality and migratory bird habitat needs. Teri is a member of the Society of American Foresters and the North American Association for Environmental Education. Teri is married and has two daughters and two very spoiled dogs. Besides natural resources Teri's interests include bird watching, fishing, liturgical dance and teaching water aerobics.

Don Hultman Refuge Manager, Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish RefugeWinona, Minnesota. Don has been with the National Wildlife Refuge System, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, for 27 years. He has worked at refuges in Minnesota, Michigan, North Dakota, and Montana; has held supervisory positions in the Twin Cities Regional Office; and was Deputy Chief of Refuges in Washington, D.C. Don has been the Refuge Manager of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge in Winona, Minnesota since October, 2002. The 240,000-acre refuge extends 261 miles through Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois. He also has supervisory responsibility for 11other refuges on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers.

Matt Jeffery is the Program Manager, International Alliances Program for the National Audubon Society. He has worked with animals his whole life and has been involved in the conservation field since 1998. The stepson of an animal keeper in England, Matt spent his childhood at Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks. He worked alongside his stepfather as a child and young adult and at home assisted with the hand-rearing of tigers, wolves, lions and a handful of other exotic animals. Matt’s understanding of – and commitment to – conservation was solidified while living in Southeast Asia from 1998 to 2001. Spending a year in Thailand and more than two years in Cambodia, he worked for a variety of conservation organizations, including Conservation International. Matt has worked for Audubon since July 2006 straddling both the International Alliances Program and Education and Centers. However, he is now working full time for Audubon’s International Alliances Program as the program manager. Matt holds a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from King’s College, University of London, and lives in Maryland with his wife and daughter.

Doug Johnson Ph.D. is a statistician and senior scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. After serving at Center headquarters in North Dakota, he recently moved back to Minnesota, where he has an appointment and an office at the University of Minnesota in Saint Paul. Doug has been involved in a number of research studies addressing waterfowl, sandhill cranes, and grassland birds. He leads a long-term investigation of the value of Conservation Reserve Program field for breeding grassland birds, as well as a study assessing the effects of wind generators on breeding birds. His team has produced a number of literature reviews of grassland and wetland birds.

Richard King is the staff biologist at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge. His greatest interest is in restoring flora and fauna on the 44,000 acre refuge to historic levels. He has published papers related to songbird diversity, red-headed woodpecker ecology and nest site selection, Karner blue butterflies, eastern massasauga rattlesnakes, and fire effects on plants and birds. Mr. King received his Bachelors and Masters Degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Kevin Lines has served as the Conservation Easement Section Manager (CESM) for the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) since November 2000. As the CESM, he administers the state’s private lands conservation easement programs and activities, including RIM Reserve, CREP, and RIM Reserve/WRP partnership. In addition, he serves as BWSR’s principal liaison to federal and state agencies’ local units of government on issues relating to wildlife and private land conservation in the State of Minnesota. In this capacity he has successfully administered and implemented, in concert with our partners, the Minnesota River Watershed CREP by enrolling approximately 2,500 conservation easements which protect over 100,000 acres. He is now working on getting Minnesota’s CREP II on the ground with our partners. From 1980 to 2000 he held numerous professional wildlife positions with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Section of Wildlife (i.e., Lake Designation Coordinator 1980-1987; Area Wildlife Supervisor 1987-1990; Farm Land Wildlife Program Leader 1990-2000).

Dan McGuiness is Director of Conservation Policy for Audubon’s Mississippi River Initiative. He has worked on the Mississippi River for 39 years. Since coming to Audubon in 1998, Dan McGuiness has been coordinating a multi-faceted effort to build national awareness and advocacy for restoration of the ecological health of the Mississippi River. Prior to joining Audubon, Dan served for eleven years as the Director of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Boundary Area Commission based in Hudson, Wisconsin where one of his great joys was to serve as editor of the St. Croix River Stewards Journal – focusing on how people can be good stewards of the river and its watershed. From 1983 to 1987 he worked as an educator and program coordinator for two Minnesota nonprofit organizations, Wilder Forest, just north of Stillwater and for the Science Museum of Minnesota. From 1975 to 1982 he operated the environmental consulting firm of Dan McGuiness and Associates. Prior to that he worked as a planner for river communities in southern Minnesota. He began his career on the river in 1968, banding Wood ducks on the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish Refuge as a student biologist. Dan has a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology from Winona State University.

Barb Naramore is the Ecosystem and Navigation Program Director of the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association, where she has served the states of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin in various capacities since 1990. The Association is the regional interstate organization formed by the Governors of the five basin states to coordinate the states' full range of river-related programs and policies. Naramore’s primary focus includes helping to identify and represent the states’ common interests in the existing Environmental Management Program and the pending program of navigation and ecosystem improvements known as the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program. This involves extensive coordination with the states’ federal agency counterparts as well as nongovernmental partners such as Audubon. Naramore’s undergraduate degree is from the College of William and Mary in Virginia and she holds a Master’s in Public Affairs from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute.

Karen Orenstein is National Outreach Coordinator for the National Audubon Society. For the past decade, Karen has worked as an organizer and lobbyist in progressive legislative and grassroots campaigns focused on the environment and international human rights. Following seven years with the East Timor and Indonesia Act Network, Karen joined the National Audubon Society in July 2006. An Illinoisan, Karen focuses primarily on grassroots advocacy in the Midwest.

Mark Peterson, Ph.D. is Executive Director of Minnesota Audubon. His career in conservation spans more than 25 years. Mark holds degrees in secondary education (B.S.) and environmental journalism (M.S.) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned a Ph.D. at Colorado State University studying the human dimensions of natural resource management. Mark’s dissertation focused on protecting habitat for whooping cranes along the Platte River. Mark combines this academic foundation with extensive experience in the non-profit sector, most recently for nine years as a Rocky Mountain Regional Director for the National Parks Conservation Association. Before that Mark served for as Executive Director of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute at Northland College in Ashland, WI. There he led advocacy efforts to protect the Lake Superior bioregion and founded the Apostle Island School and the Timber Wolf Alliance, programs that continue today.

Bruce Reid, Lower Mississippi River Program Director for the National Audubon Society’s Mississippi River Initiative, has been on staff with Audubon since November 2000. He is based in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and works with staff members and partner organizations to advance conservation science and policy along the entire Mississippi River. He is working on important elements of the Initiative such as region-wide communications strategy and an innovative educational project, the Mississippi River Field Institute. He has had a passionate interest in birds and wildlife for more than 30 years. At age 20, he hiked the length of the Appalachian Trail, which runs more than 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine. Before joining Audubon, he worked for nearly 20 years writing for daily newspapers in Maryland, Mississippi and Virginia, mostly about environmental issues. He has received state and national journalism awards for writing about such topics as pesticides, Chesapeake Bay restoration, floodplain management, and Army Corps of Engineers policy. He was nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize in Journalism. Bruce is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and has lived in Vicksburg for 12 years.

Dick Riner is a retired public school science teacher who spent 36 years at it, doing something he truly loved to do. He is in this third term as president of the Thorn Creek Audubon Society, president of the Bird Conservation Network and a site steward for the Bartel Grassland Restoration project in the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. Dick has also been a program committee member of the “Wild Things” Chicago Wilderness conference for two years and presenter there on volunteerism and the IBA program. Thorn Creek Aubuon Society has been one of the first National Audubon chapters in Illinois to adopt an IBA. Bartel Grassland was adopted shortly after it was dedicated as an IBA in 2004. Bartel is an IBA because it has the second largest population of Bobolinks in the sate of Illinois with 120 nesting pairs for the past six years. Other ground nesting birds of note are the Eastern Meadowlark and the Henslow Sparrow.

Bob Russell is a nongame wetland bird biologist and Midwest shorebird coordinator for the USFWS at Fort Snelling, MN. He also is an assistant biologist on the eastern experimental whooping crane reintroduction project and is the regional bird biologist on wind power issues. Bob has worked in previous jobs establishing a Meadowlands New Jersey National Preserve, mapping the coastal vegetation of the Everglades National Park and mapping the mountain vegetation of Romania for the National Park Service and Air Force respectively. In his spare time he searches for supposedly extinct birds with his fleet of kayaks and canoes in the bayous of Louisiana and on the coast of New Brunswick.

Kenny Salwey is one of the last of a breed of men...men who have been able to earn a living with the land using only their native wit and intelligence. He has lived hard and worked hard along the Mississippi River--close to nature--all his life. He has eked out a living as a river guide, trapper, fisherman, hunter, root and herb collector and general all-around woodsman and naturalist. His lifestyle is fast disappearing in this high-tech world. Kenny has appeared on such television shows as Wisconsin Magazine, Discover Wisconsin, Eau Claire's Dave Carlson Show, Wisconsin Public Television's Mississippi Stories, the MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour, and Ron Shara's Minnesota Outdoors. Articles about him, his philosophy and his livelihood have appeared in Wisconsin Trails Magazine, the Milwaukee Journal, Madison's Isthmus, LaCrosse Tribune, Racine Journal Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press and a host of Midwest newspapers. Two books feature chapters about Kenny Salwey. He has co-authored his first book The Last River Rat: Kenny Salwey's Life in the Wild which portrays a year in the life of this intriguing woodsman. His latest book is called Kenny Salwey's Tales of a River Rat: Life Along the Wild Mississippi. Kenny was featured in the BBC/Discovery Channel Documentary "Mississippi: Tales of the Last River Rat" which won international acclaim, including five prestigious nature documentary awards. By sharing his hard-learned experiences, his respect for the Mississippi River and his love of the natural world, Kenny hopes to inspire his audiences to protect our two most precious resources: our natural resources and our human resource.

Mark Seeley Ph.D. was somewhat of a latecomer into the field of meteorology. He first received a Bachelor's degree in pre-law from the University of California at Berkeley. After getting his degree, he worked to put his wife through college and also volunteered to be a weather observer. He became fascinated with his volunteer work and started to take some classes in meteorology. His volunteer work sparked a strong interest in the weather and he soon received a Master's in meteorology from Northern Illinois University and a Ph. D in climatology from the University of Nebraska in 1977. Seeley's main duty at the college is public extension service. He uses climate and real-time observation forecasts to provide a variety of public groups with better information to formulate their planning and decision-making. In Minnesota, Seeley works with various agricultural producers, providing training to certified crop and pesticide applicator advisers that need to be annually re-certified. Additionally, he works with energy providers and uses weather forecasts to anticipate price volatility for winter heating costs. These winter predictions also help out the tourism industry involved with snow and ice such as skiing, snowmobiling, or ice fishing. And, if you are an early riser, you may be one of the 200,000-300,000 listeners of Seeley's weather commentary (6:50 A.M.) on Minnesota Public Radio's Morning Edition. On a more national level, Seeley and the extension service supply weekly and monthly Minnesota weather summaries on their Web site that are important to the work of the Department of Health, Ag, Public Service, and Homeland Security.

Luke Skinner supervises the Invasive Species Unit for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. For nearly two decades, Luke has worked to manage invasive species in Minnesota including invasive plants such as purple loosestrife, leafy spurge, buckthorn and garlic mustard. Luke has worked with many states and federal agencies and Universities to help implement a nationwide biological control program for purple loosestrife. Luke has also coordinated a terrestrial invasive plant management program and research for development of biological control for garlic mustard and buckthorn. Luke received his Ph.D. in Entomology, specializing in biological control of invasive plants.

Roger Still is Vice President of Mississippi River Programs for the National Audubon Society. Roger took a rather unconventional path into the conservation field. After graduating from the University of Missouri with a Master’s degree in Russian history, he worked for four years as a Russian political analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency in the early 1990s. Upon returning to the Midwest to earn a Ph. D. and to teach at the University of Kansas, he also began doing volunteer work for the Nature Conservancy. He eventually accepted a position with the Conservancy and in 1996 was promoted that same year to the State Director position for the group in Missouri. Under his leadership in 1999 the Missouri Chapter received the “Outstanding Program Progress Award” for the most improved operating unit within the entire organization. The Ph. D. was never completed. Roger became the Executive Director of Audubon Missouri in September 2001. His accomplishments as Executive Director include launching an Audubon Center project in Joplin and adding a Director of Bird Conservation in partnership with the Missouri Department of Conservation. In January 2006 Roger was appointed Vice President of Audubon’s Mississippi River programs. Born in Lebanon, Missouri, a small Ozark town, Roger gained an appreciation for nature through playing and working on his grandparents’ Ozark farms.

Bridget Stutchbury, Ph.D. was born in Montreal and raised in Toronto. She completed her master’s of science degree at Queen’s University and her Ph.D. at Yale, was a fellow and research associate at the Smithsonian Institute and is now professor of biology at York University. Bridget is recognized as an international birding expert and a leading authority on the science of migratory birds, having followed them from the jungles of Costa Rica and Belize to the hardwood forests of North America. She is affiliated with more than a dozen organizations seeking to preserve bird habitats, including the World Wildlife Fund. She was selected by the Toronto Star as one of the “People to Watch in 2005” after her groundbreaking research into the sexual antics of birds made headlines around the world. Stutchbury lives in Woodbridge, Ontario. In her book, Silence of the Songbirds, she lays out how these miraculous creatures live, why they are disappearing, why we should care, and how each of us—by making choices as simple as what coffee we drink, what toilet paper we buy, or when we turn off the lights in our offices—can make the world safer for the birds that add such life and vitality to it.

Dan Svedarsky, Ph.D. grew up close to nature on a dairy farm in the Ozarks of southern Missouri. After completing two degrees in at the University of Missouri, Columbia, he later studied the nesting and brood-rearing ecology of greater prairie chickens in Minnesota while completing a Ph.D. in Wildlife Biology at the University of North Dakota. He has been at the University of Minnesota at Crookston since 1969 and is currently Head of the Natural Resources Department. Dan specializes in farmland and prairie wildlife management and teaches Wildlife Habitat Management Techniques, Integrated Resource Management, Sustainability, and Land Use Planning. He is a recipient of: The National Stewardship Award of The Nature Conservancy, The Hamerstrom Award of the Prairie Grouse Technical Council, and The Minnesota Award of the Minnesota Chapter of The Wildlife Society, and is a member of the University of Minnesota Academy of Distinguished Teachers.

Lynn Tennefoss is the Vice President for State Programs and Chapter Services for Audubon. She coordinates the activities of Audubon's Office of Chapter Services, helping to develop and share information with Audubon Chapters, staff and board regarding chapter-related policies, procedures and projects. Along with providing strategic direction and support to strengthen the relationship between Audubon state programs and Chapters, she helps launch new state programs and has managerial oversight for a select number of states. Before joining National Audubon's staff, Lynn was Managing Director of Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society in California for eight years, edited the Handbook for Wetland Activists in California and California Endangered Species Guide as a consultant to Audubon, held a number of volunteer positions with her local chapter and state council in Montana, and co-led Audubon Ecology Workshops throughout the Western US, Hawaii and Costa Rica.

Genevieve Thompson is the State Director/VP for Audubon Dakota, where she has worked for the past 10 years. Audubon’s priorities in the Dakotas are focused on grasslands and wetlands habitat protection for birds, which is why the Farm Bill is of significant importance. Genevieve is fortunate to manage the 2,300+ acre Edward M. Brigham Sanctuary, which provides the opportunity to implement Farm Bill conservation programs “first hand”. She works with private landowners and partners to maximize the conservation benefits of carbon sequestration, predator management and outreach. Prior to coming to Audubon Dakota, Genevieve was on the faculty at Washington State University, where she worked in sustainable farming systems in developing countries in Africa. She has an MS in Environmental Science and a BS from Colby College.

David Wilson is the Driftless Area Initiative Coordinator. David holds a BA in Biology from Carleton College in Northfield Minnesota. The focus of his studies there included Ecology, Community Ecology, Evolutionary Theory, and Spanish Language and Literature. David also holds a MS in Geographic Information Systems Science and Resource Analysis from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in Winona, Minnesota. His recently completed Master’s thesis examines relationships between landscape fragmentation metrics and the occurrence of migratory birds in the Driftless Area of the Upper Mississippi River Basin. David currently serves as the Driftless Area Initiative Coordinator, acting to build conservation partnerships, initiate natural resource management activities, and provide leadership and focus on natural resource management needs of this unique 4-state region.