Staff

Janelle Long, Executive Director

Janelle Long began her career as the Executive Director at Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory in August 2007. She received her M.Ed. in Environmental Education at the University of Minnesota Duluth and a B.S. in Wildlife Management and Biology at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. Her interest in ornithology and conservation biology began by assisting several Ph.D. students with their field research studying neotropical migrants and grassland birds. She continued to share her passion for birds in the field of environmental education working at several Audubon Centers and for the Bureau of Land Management’s Yaquina Head Oustanding Natural Area in OR. She enjoys bridging the bird conservation research, education, and stewardship components through her career with Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory. Janelle resides in Duluth, MN with her husband and 3 children.

jlong@hawkridge.org
218-428-6209

Margie Menzies, Education Director

One-part educator, two parts naturalist, and two parts bird nerd! After years in the formal classroom, this educator has abandoned the indoors for the great outdoor classroom. Margie joined the Hawk Ridge staff as a Naturalist in 2011 and is now the full-time Education Director for Hawk Ridge. She loves birds and sharing the natural world with people of all ages. She also helps lead the passerine (songbird) banding at Hawk Ridge during fall migration and with three MAPS stations studying summer breeding birds at Hawk Ridge, Wolf Ridge, and Sugarloaf Cove. She has a BA in Biology from Bethel University, and a MA in Education from University of St. Thomas.

mmenzies@hawkridge.org
218-428-8722

Emily Pavlovic, Research Director

Emily grew up in Northwest Indiana and earned a B.A. in Biochemistry from Earlham College. After her undergraduate, she taught environmental education at various nature centers across the country for about five years. While working for the Audubon Society her love for birds and specifically raptors grew. Emily completed an M.S. in Integrated Biosciences at UMD in 2022. She conducted her thesis research at Hawk Ridge which was focused on determining natal origins and migratory patterns of raptors using stable isotope analysis. Since graduating in 2022, she has remained a research volunteer at Hawk Ridge. She loves spending time at Hawk Ridge and is excited to continue developing the research program in a more formal position! Emily lives with her husband, Sean, and their bluetick coonhound, Ezra. They enjoy doing various activities in nature, curling, cooking (and eating), and learning new skills! Emily is really grateful for all of the support from the HRBO Crew!

epavlovic@hawkridge.org

218-428-1479

Frank Nicoletti, Senior Research Associate

Frank Nicoletti grew up in New York State along the Hudson River where he started watching raptors at the age of 11. His passion for raptors and other birds fueled him to work at various locations including Cape May and Sandy Hook NJ, Braddock Bay NY and in Israel. From 1984 until 1996 he traveled throughout the country and conducted various raptor related projects which included nesting surveys, tracking winter raptors and migration work. He arrived in Duluth in 1991 to count raptors and to witness the invasion of the Northern Goshawk and he conducted the count at Hawk Ridge until 2005. After moving to Duluth permanently in the fall of 1996, he conducted the first spring count of raptors migrating north in Minnesota along the West Skyline Parkway of Duluth. Frank continues to study raptors and has been concentrating on boreal forest owls and managing raptor banding sites. He has published a number of papers on birds and has helped with many authors working on books and articles. Frank joined the Hawk Ridge staff in 2011 as the Banding Director and is now the Senior Research Associate to help lead research projects, as well as raptor banding and bird migration count research. He lives just north of Duluth with his wife, Kate, and their well-loved dogs.

fnicoletti@hawkridge.org

Valerie Slocum, Volunteer Coordinator

Valerie grew up in Battle Creek, MI (aka the cereal capital of the world) with a love of the outdoors and the living world. She received her B.A.A. in Earth Science and Outdoor and Environmental Recreation from Central Michigan University. Valerie has spend the majority of her career both teaching educational programs as well as working with educational raptors at facilities such as Kalamazoo Nature Center, Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center, the Lake Superior Zoo, where she also served as the Volunteer Manager, and currently at Wildwoods Wildlife Rehabilitation. Volunteering has always played a big role in her life and began holding regular volunteer jobs when she was 15. She believes that volunteering is one of the most fulfilling activities that people can participate in. Valerie began volunteering with Hawk Ridge in 2013 and is very excited to work with all of the amazing volunteers this year! Her favorite bird is the Turkey Vulture, and if there’s anything you want to know, please ask her because she loves to tell anyone she can about these amazing creatures!

Fall 2025 Team

We welcome our 2025 team, which includes seasonal employees, apprentices, trainees, interns, and some volunteers.

David Alexander, Volunteer Bander

David Alexander grew up living all over the world, and after finishing his medical training in Dallas, Madison, and Tucson finally decided it was time to settle down. Through some luck, he and his wife Christina landed in Duluth, MN of all places. David has been a passionate birder over the years and still manages to get overseas for a few nature trips a year. Starting in the Fall of 1995, he has been an annual visitor and later a volunteer at Hawk Ridge.

David served on the board of Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve in the early years and then returned on the board in 2010 for 10 years with Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory. David works full-time as a radiologist for Essentia Health in Duluth. In his time off, he spends long days at Hawk Ridge in the fall helping to lead the Hawk Ridge Passerine Banding Project, as well as one of the assistant Raptor Banders. In conjunction with Margie Menzies, he helps direct the summer MAPS breeding bird banding study.

Tim Baerwald, Lead Bander

Tim is from Michigan and has spent an extensive amount of time doing working on raptor related projects across the country, but always finds his way back to the shores of Lake Superior. He is excited to be part of the Hawk Ridge team this fall and is looking forward to whatever the winds may bring.

Erik Bruhnke, Volunteer Count Interpreter/Counter

Erik Bruhnke has loved birds since he was a child looking at chickadees. While still a student at Northland College, he taught field ornithology for three semesters, graduating in 2008 with a Natural Resources degree. After graduation his springs and summers were spent conducting bird surveys through northern forests, vast prairies, and western mountains. He worked as an interpreter for six fall seasons at Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory in Duluth, Minnesota; counted migrating raptors at the Corpus Christi HawkWatch in Texas in 2015; and was the 2016, 2017, and 2018 hawk counter at the Cape May Hawkwatch in New Jersey. In the fall of 2020, he educated visitors about bird migration at the Cape May Hawkwatch as a season-long interpreter. Throughout the previous two fall seasons he has assisted counting bird migration and interpreting the movements of birds to visitors at Hawk Ridge, and is thrilled to be back for another exciting fall season! Erik’s wildlife photography has won national awards, and he’s written for the American Birding Association’s Birder’s Guide, BirdWatching magazine, and Bird Watcher’s Digest. Erik is a full-time birding tour guide for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours (VENT) and also runs his own business, Naturally Avian. Outside of frequent birding he enjoys hiking, camping, dips in Lake Superior, and being out in the snow. Bird migration makes him happy. In his free time he loves to cook and bake, often following recipes from his Omas and Opas.

Gabby Dowd, Trainee

Hi, I’m Gabby! I’m a recent graduate from the University of Vermont. I love birding and nature, and talking off anyone’s who asks me about them. I have a dog named Roo and hope to band birds and do conservation canine work in the future. My favorite bird is a Brown Thrasher.

Miranda Durbin, Volunteer Bander

Miranda Durbin has lived in Duluth most of her life, growing up right below Hawk Ridge.  She got her BS in Fisheries and Wildlife, with a specialization in Wildlife at the University of Minnesota.  Her love of birds didn’t begin in earnest until an ornithology class and an internship at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Roseville helping in the avian nursery. After some traveling and time away from Duluth, she moved back in 2011 and began volunteering at Hawk Ridge during the 2012 fall season. This will be her 14th year helping as one of the Banders at Hawk Ridge!

Alder Haus, Naturalist

Alder grew up in Ankeny, Iowa and earned a B.S. in Animal Ecology from Iowa State University. Their first experience with birds began on the family farm where they helped raise chickens and turkeys for meat and eggs. On special occasions, Alder spent time with their dad hunting for pheasant or geese. All of that changed when they went to ISU. Alder became the taxidermist for the student ornithology collection and worked there for four years. Many of the specimens collected were window strike birds including their spark bird – the Common Yellowthroat. Alder’s interest in birds grew deeper, leading to them volunteering at Iowa Bird Rehabilitation and interning at Iowa Young Birders (IYB). The highlight of their college experience was studying at the University of Montana for a semester. They loved to take Ornithology and Rocky Mountain Flora. When Alder wasn’t doing homework, they enjoyed participating in campus organizations, including Birding Club, Taxidermy articulation and Preservation Society, and Environmental Education Club. They would serve as co-president of EEC during their final year.

Alder is excited for their first season at Hawk Ridge. They look forward to meeting birders of all experience levels. Alder’s biggest goal is to find their naturalist voice while learning about bird conservation, research, and public engagement. In their free time, Alder will be adventuring around Duluth, hiking, drawing, story writing, or playing guitar to their favorite songs.

Kaia Hilgendorf-Roost, Banding Apprentice

Minnesota born and raised, Kaia graduated from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in 2024 and received her degree in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology. While at the U, she spent three years banding songbirds at Carpenter Nature Center, and spent three summers nest monitoring shorebirds, common eider, and other tundra nesting birds in the remote Alaskan Arctic. Last fall migration season, Kaia worked on Goshute Mountain with HawkWatch International, counting and banding raptors. This spring, she spent a season songbird banding in North Carolina. She is looking forward to banding owls for the first time and exploring the Duluth area. In her free time, she enjoys cross-country skiing, biking, running, and just getting outdoors in general!

Marie Hosch, Counter

Hi, I’m Marie! I’ve been obsessed with birds since I was 13 years old, when I was inspired to pick up the Golden Guide that was hanging around my parents’ house and then was shocked at how many species there are (“I have to see all of them!”). Since then, I’ve had the honor of studying birds at Cornell University; traveling to Costa Rica, China, and Australia to record avian vocalizations; and helping with ornithological research projects across the country (such as counting here at Hawk Ridge, surveying coastal species in Georgia, and doing behavioral studies on Brown-headed Nuthatches in Florida). I also enjoy guiding clients to see the incredible avian diversity found in Minnesota. I worked for a year at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for their Merlin Bird ID project, and since high school I’ve helped curate data as a local Northeast Florida reviewer for eBird. During “non-bird-time” I love playing the harp, painting, and inventing recipes.

Ivy Houts, Naturalist

Ivy is from Minneapolis, MN and graduated from UMD in the fall of 2024 with a double major in History and Spanish and a minor in Environmental and outdoor education. Since graduating, she has worked in a variety of seasonal jobs. Coaching cross country skiing, naturalist at Hartley nature preserve and summer camp trip leader in Costa Rica and Colorado. Some would call her a distracted driver, others would say she’s trying to identify the birds.

Lydia Ihde, Naturalist

Lydia grew up in Decorah, Iowa, watching birds soar over cornfields, bluffs, and of course watching the Decorah bald eagles. She moved up to Duluth to attend the University of Minnesota Duluth majoring in Environmental and Outdoor Education. This is Lydia’s second year working as a naturalist with Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory. Her favorite part of the job is teaching school groups and getting them excited about the research that is happening at Hawk Ridge.  She spends her free time camping, hiking, baking, and sharing her love for the outdoors with everyone around her. Lydia is very excited for this season at Hawk Ridge!

Anna Johnson, Naturalist

Anna is an outdoor enthusiast originally from LaCrosse, Wisconsin. She’s loved pretty much everything outdoors her whole life, but birds have a special place in her heart. Her passion for birds stems from her belief that birds are some of our best connections to the natural world. She’s currently a student at the University of Minnesota Duluth where she is studying Biology and French and works as a Sea Kayak Guide. She is also the Vice President of the UMD Bird Club. This summer she spent two months in Morocco working on her own research project studying waterfowl and other wetland species in Sidi Boughaba. She’s excited to return for her second season at Hawk Ridge! Connecting with visitors and watching birds bring people together is Anna’s favorite part about the ridge. Other than birds, Anna truly enjoys any outdoor activity from climbing, skiing and biking to paddling and camping.

Kree Ladd, Lead Visitor Services

Hi, I’m Kree! I’m born and raised in Colorado. While in Colorado I attended Front Range Community College for Wildlife Technology. At Front Range Community College I took an ornithology class that sparked my passion for birds. Since getting my degree at Front Range I went on to work in the field. I had the opportunity to work as a gatehouse attendant for Horsetooth Reservoir. I went on to be a field educator with Yellowstone Forever, where I took participants out on tours in Yellowstone National Park. I came back home to Colorado and worked for Colorado Parks and Wildlife as a Chronic Wasting Disease Technician. After working for CPW I decided I wanted to go back to school and am currently pursuing my wildlife, fisheries, and conservation science degree from Oregon State University. If I am not doing school work or birding I am raising my goats and other livestock, hunting, or playing ice hockey. 

Loreen Lee, Trainee

Loreen (she/they) is a queer artist, educator, and naturalist-in-training who grew up in Southern California, then made Minnesota her second home later in life. She developed a passion for the outdoors as a child during many family road trips, visits to national parks, and camping throughout the Southwest and Pacific Northwest. Loreen earned her B.A. in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College in 2007 and her M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of the Pacific in 2012. During her tenure as a youth worker and an elementary school classroom teacher, Loreen loved building relationships with students and families from a diversity of backgrounds and life experiences. Loreen’s spark bird happened during a trip to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, when she visited a Magnificent Frigatebird rookery. After that, Loreen bought her first binos and field guides, which led to many birding adventures, taking up wildlife photography, and becoming a leader with Urban Bird Collective in 2019. In this role, Loreen loves connecting people with the plentiful green spaces throughout the Twin Cities, supporting individuals in developing their bird identification skills, and advocating for how the public can help the birds in their own neighborhoods. This summer, Loreen completed coursework to become a Minnesota Master Naturalist Volunteer at Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge’s Rapids Lake Unit. She is over the moon to be working with migratory birds up on the Ridge this fall and is looking forward to joining the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory team as a trainee.

Sean McLaughlin, Lead Counter

Sean is from the ridge and valley province of Central Pennsylvania in the heart of hawk watching country. After years of birding the valleys, he discovered the wondrous migratory world in the air above. He has been a volunteer counter at Stone Mountain hawk watch, Bald Eagle hawk watch, and official counter at Tussey Mountain and the Hawk Ridge West Skyline Spring Count. Sean has spent time in the north woods at Northland College, and is thrilled to spend another fall counting at Hawk Ridge.

Peter Mundale, Naturalist

Peter is from Blaine, Minnesota and has been fascinated by the outdoors his whole life. His obsession for birds began at 8 years old reading Peterson Field guides, and only grew after traveling to Hawk Ridge for the first time in 2010 to observe the migration! Over fifteen years later and still obsessed with birds, Peter is returning for his fourth season at Hawk Ridge! He is currently studying Ecology at UMD, and is the President of the UMD Bird Club. Other field work Peter has done includes doing National Forest Bird Point Counts, Tracking Boreal Chickadees with Telemetry, MAPS Banding, working on a Common Redpoll study, and leading his own research project with Horned Larks. Peter loves hawk watching! Whether it’s at Hawk Ridge, West Skyline, or Bagley Hill behind campus the magic of migration is a spectacle that he loves to watch and share with others! When he’s not birding (which is rare), Peter enjoys Hiking, Camping, Snowshoeing, Photography, Mothing, and looking for Dragonflies!

Sarah Needles, Raptor Bander

Sarah grew up in California and discovered her love for birds while exploring the coastal and grassland habitats of Santa Cruz during her college years. Her interest in birds has led her to banding songbirds in California and studying nesting American Kestrels in Salt Lake City. This will be her third season at Hawk Ridge, after spending her first season as a Trainee and returning last year as a Banding Apprentice. She’s excited to be running a raptor banding station this season, after learning from skilled biologists over the past few years. She is especially looking forward to banding falcons and studying molt! In her free time, you can find Sarah reading, biking, and crocheting.

Alder Nichols, Lead Naturalist

Lisa Oakland – Visitor Services Specialist

This is Lisa’s seventh year working at Hawk Ridge. For many years before she was hired she could be found up at the Ridge every fall to watch the migration and reconnect with staff, volunteers, and friends. She was raised in Duluth, not far from Hawk Ridge, in a family that spent a lot of time outdoors, especially enjoying frequent camping trips every summer. She came to love birding as an adult through the influence of her wife and her father, who was a Hawk Ridge board member and avid birder. Lisa has many years of retail/customer service experience. Her love of birding, customer experiences and love of interacting with people makes the merchandise trailer a perfect place for her to be in the fall. She lives in Cloquet, MN with her wife Barb and a fiesta cat. They enjoy spending free time camping with the cat, birding, and time outdoors in general-usually with binoculars.  When not pursuing these activities, she can be found with a good book in hand.

Angus Pitulla, Naturalist

Hi, I’m Angus! I’m an interpretive naturalist, park ranger, and tree/spider/bird enthusiast! Currently, I am studying Environmental & Outdoor Education here in town at the University of Minnesota Duluth. When I’m not at UMD or Hawk Ridge, my free time is filled with exploration of this incredible natural world that surrounds us. Whether it’s traveling, hiking, swimming, skiing, or climbing- I am always outside. This past summer, I spent the season working as an interpretive park ranger at Badlands National Park- and let me tell you, the birds out there were amazing. From the Burrowing Owls to the Mountain Bluebirds to the Violet-Green Swallows, it’s incredible how much of a shift in diversity there can be just a few hundred miles away. Did I mention I really like birds? As a kid, my mom took me banding on weekends, and I still remember that feeling I got the first time I held a Pileated Woodpecker. To this day, my eyes and ears are always to the skies in search of new lifers. If you run into me at Hawk Ridge or anywhere else, come say hey, and feel free to ask me about my favorite spiders, trees, or birds (and where you can find them!)

Jamie Tigges, Naturalist

Jamie comes from Iowa and is a University of Iowa alumni with a BS in Environmental Sciences and Biology and current graduate student at the University of Minnesota-Duluth in the Masters of Environmental Outdoor Education program. He’s been banding and helping lead ornithologically focused events since 2018 at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory. He’s excited for the upcoming year and being able to help out again at Hawk Ridge. After a summer of hanging out with Hartley Nature Center kiddos Jamie is excited for the fall migration season!

Caroline Urban, Naturalist

This is Caroline’s fourth season working at Hawk Ridge. You’ll only see her on the weekends, because during the week she’s busy herding children as an Environmental Education teacher. Caroline loves Hawk Ridge because she gets to bird all day, meet cool people, and be outside. When she isn’t working, Caroline likes to make crafts with yarn, read books and heckle her cat Basil.

Maya Vernick, Owl Bander

Maya grew up in Boston and graduated from Bates College in Maine in 2023 with a B.S. in biology. She has always had a deep love for animals and conservation, so following graduation she pursued a variety of internships and seasonal field work. She has done wildlife rehabilitation work in WI, sea turtle rehabilitation at the New England Aquarium, and nesting tern monitoring off the coast of MA. She gained experience in bird banding as a spring migration intern and a fall migration banding assistant with Berkshire Bird Observatory in MA. Most recently, she has completed field work focused on macaw conservation in the Amazon rainforest in Peru, and Lance-tailed Manakin cooperative breeding behavior in Panama. In her free time Maya enjoys hiking, art, and cuddling with her very cute and fluffy dog Kayla.

Logan Woods, Naturalist

Logan is a native Minnesotan who grew up in the Twin Cities. After graduating from Saint John’s University in 2023, he made his way up north where birds became a significant interest. He spent the last two years as a naturalist at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center about 60 miles up the North Shore. At Wolf Ridge, he started banding for a Black Capped Chickadee study and is now banding for all Wolf Ridge projects. This will be his second fall at Hawk Ridge and looks forward to sharing the marvel of bird migration with others. When not occupied with birds, Logan likes to run, dance and keep up with Minnesota sports teams.

June Yost, Banding Apprentice

June grew up in Oakland, California and went to the University of California, Santa Cruz. In Santa Cruz she fell in love with Bushtits, Wrentits, and California Thrashers, some of her favorite songbirds to this day! Her hobbies include going surfing, watching tv shows, and taking long naps in the afternoon. She is returning to Duluth for her second season at Hawk Ridge this fall, and is incredibly excited about working with raptors again after spending the summer as a songbird bander back home in California. When she’s not banding raptors, you can find June on the count platform distracting the counters with funny stories and out-of-practice warbler identification skills.

Soren Zappia, Trainee

Soren grew up in neighboring Wisconsin and has loved birds ever since he first looked out his grandmother’s window.  After getting a degree in biochemistry and chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he decided to change gears and pursue his passion for ornithological research and education. He spent the past summer working as an environmental educator at the Dane County Humane Society’s Wildlife Center, and has volunteered in passerine banding for two years at the Biocore Prairie Bird Observatory. He also has experience with collision monitoring, nest monitoring, and waterfowl rehab. He loves to lead bird walks and share the joy of birding with everyone. Soren’s favorite birds are waterfowl, gulls, and of course raptors! He is looking forward to gaining experience in all three major focal areas of Hawk Ridge as a trainee. When he’s not birding, Soren loves board games, plants, and hiking.