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
Spring/Summer 2025 Team
We welcome our Fall 2024 team, which includes seasonal employees, apprentices, trainees, interns, and 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.
Marie Chappell, 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 was promptly 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 being last year’s trainee at Hawk Ridge and surveying marsh sparrows, Red Knots, and wading bird colonies in Georgia the first half of this year). 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. I also enjoy playing the harp, painting, and inventing recipes.
Lydia Ihde, Naturalist
Lydia grew up in Decorah, Iowa, watching birds soar over cornfields and bluffs. She moved up to Duluth to attend the University of Minnesota Duluth majoring in Environmental and Outdoor Education. She spends her time learning about the north woods and those who call this place home, falling in love with all that surrounds her. She spends her free time camping, kayaking, hiking, and sharing her love for the outdoors with everyone around her. Her favorite bird is the turkey vulture because of their overlooked uniqueness. Lydia is very excited to spend the fall migration 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 traveling to Hawk Ridge with his family to observe the migration! Over twelve years later and still obsessed with birds, Peter is returning for his third season at Hawk Ridge! He is currently studying Biology: Ecology at the University of Minnesota Duluth! He is also the Vice President of the UMD Bird Club, and a saxophonist in the UMD Marching Band & UMD Pep Band! At UMD, Peter is currently studying two subspecies of Horned Larks as apart of the Undergraduate Research Program as these birds migrate through Park Point in Duluth. This study focuses on the differences in the immune system of two geographically separated subspecies (prairie & tundra larks). He has also been a Research Assistant in a study involving Common Redpolls for the past two winters. 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 directly birding (which is rare), Peter enjoys Hiking, Camping, Snowshoeing, Canoeing, Climbing, and especially Photography!
Chris Schnurbusch, Naturalist
Chris Schnurbusch grew up watching backyard birds in St. Louis, Missouri, but truly understood their beauty during college. She graduated from the University of Central Missouri with a Conservation Biology degree, and has been bouncing around various states ever since. This is Chris’s third season at Hawk Ridge, as well as her third season in Minnesota. Though having mostly worked with raptors at Hawk Ridge, Chris has also monitored shorebirds on the Gulf Coast in Texas. She’s looking forward to seeing how the spring count differs from the fall and interacting with all the wonderful guests that come to the Hawk Watch! In her free time you can find her drawing, reading, hiking, and crocheting.
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!
