Diana Herron

Diana has been a avid birder for more than 50 years. At first, she was a yard birder at her home in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. Later she moved to San Diego, California, where she was treasurer of the San Diego Field Ornithologists. She led birdwalks for the San Diego Natural History Museum and served as treasurer for its auxiliary group, The Covey. Together with her husband William and other friends, she has traveled extensively in this country and abroad in search of birds. The Herrons now live in Flagstaff and Scottsdale, where they mainly enjoy local birding. Currently they coordinate and lead the weekly birdwalks at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.

Doug Jenness

From the time he received his first bird book at age six, Doug has been interested in birds and natural history. During his high school years he was a nature counselor at a summer camp in Wisconsin. For many years professional work restricted his birding activity to brief excursions while visiting large cities in other countries and the United States. As a “big city” birder his favorite is New York City where he lived for more than 25 years. In the 1990s he joined the Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union and contributed to its journal, the Loon. He helped establish a new Christmas Bird Count in an underbirded area. In 2002 he moved to Tucson where he has been actively birding and has led Audubon Society field trips.

Edwin Juarez

Edwin is a bird biologist with 13 years of experience developing, implementing, coordinating and supporting conservation projects for priority bird species. He leads the Arizona Bird Conservation Initiative for the Arizona Game and Fish Department. He has also collaborated with groups such as the Sonoran Joint Venture, Partners in Flight and other regional and national initiatives focused on conserving birds throughout their annual life cycle. Edwin is from Phoenix.

Gordon Karre

Gordon Karre is an avid birder from Mesa, AZ. Originally from Nebraska, he was born and raised in a very rural area in the southwest part of the state on a farm. He has always had a keen interest in our fine avian friends and recalls many specialty birds that made appearances on the farm, including Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Loggerhead Shrike, Indigo Bunting to name a few. Observing and studying birds and their breeding and behavior were a constant pastime in his youth. Since relocating to Arizona 13 years ago the birding interest has grown. He has led field trips for Maricopa Audubon and Tucson Audubon and has participated in many Christmas Bird Counts, Global Big Days, the annual Greater Phoenix Waterbird Count, and also assisted with the latest Rosy-faced Lovebird Census in the Phoenix metro area. Several trips to Sonora, Mexico, has enhanced his knowledge of many of the Mexican species that frequently appear in Arizona. He is now retired and still enjoying the birds and is taking trips to many other international destinations to observe and enjoy our avian marvels.

Chrissy Kondrat

Chrissy is a biologist at Arizona Game and Fish Department handling the State’s scientific permits, and works on birds monitoring and other wildlife projects. Her career with birds began as a bird bander, and she continues that passion as a certified master bander on a long-term project with Bendire’s Thrashers. Outside of the career she enjoys an active life with her horses, family and favorite desert birds in the small town of Wittmann, AZ.

Jennie MacFarland

As the Conservation Biologist for the Tucson Audubon Society Jennie MacFarland coordinates the Arizona Important Bird Areas Program and the Tucson Bird Count, an urban bird count with a Reconciliation Ecology purpose. Having adopted Tucson as her home town, Jennie has lived in southern Arizona for nearly 20 years and loves the varied habitats and birds of the region.

Kerrie Anne Loyd

Kerrie Anne Loyd teaches biology and ecology for Arizona State University and has been studying urban Burrowing Owls in Lake Havasu City for the past 6 years. She previously studied domestic cat impact on native wildlife and continues to be involved in this issue as an advocate on behalf of songbirds. Kerrie Anne studied wildlife biology as an undergraduate at Virginia Tech and graduate student at the University of Georgia. She moved to Arizona in 2012 and loves exploring our beautiful and diverse state.