TOUR GUIDE BIOS
Rose Hoskinson
Rose has been hiking in the Sutter Buttes with Middle Mountain Interpretive Hikes since 2014, also the year she was first introduced to birding. She retired from computer engineering in 2020 and is currently enjoying travel and outdoor activities. Her first love remains wildflowers but birds are now a close second – if they would only sit still!
Events: Nature of the Sutter Buttes – Hike on Dean Place
Laura Lush
Laura Lush is a life-long Yuba-Sutter resident, artist, high school teacher, nature enthusiast, and avid birder. She has been active with Middle Mountain/Sutter Buttes Regional Land Trust for over a dozen years and is currently on the board of Middle Mountain Interpretive Hikes.
Events: Gray Lodge Wildlife Area
Connor Rosenblatt
Connor is a certified Forest Therapy Guide, trained by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy in 2024. His deep connection with nature began as a child, when he would spend hours observing ducks by a pond. This love for the outdoors led him to earn a B.S. and M.S. in environmental science, focusing on bird research. However, he realized his true passion was sharing nature with others, which led him to work for organizations like the National Park Service and Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Now, as a Forest Therapy Guide, Connor is dedicated to helping others reconnect with nature, each other, and themselves through outdoor experiences.
Events: Mindful Birding Walk & Forest Bathing Walk
Stephen Fischer
Stephen Fischer’s photographic experience spans 40 years and has taken him across the western US along with Florida and Alaska. He’s photographed birds in the Everglades, and Bosque Del Apache wildlife refuge, Glacier Bay and Bald Eagles along the Chilkat River in Haines, Alaska. However, a native of Sacramento, one of his favorite pastimes is photographing the American River Parkway and other regional wildlife areas. Stephen exhibits his work at the Viewpoint Photographic Gallery in Sacramento, and his images have been used in many non-‐profit venues including California State Parks, ARNHA (150 birds of California’s Great Valley). He has also published a travel guide on Photographing California.
Stephen’s book Travel Guide to California Photography and samples of his work can be found at: www.stephenfischerphotography.com
Events: The Essentials of Bird Photography Workshop (free) followed by Nature/Wildlife Photography tour at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge
Paul Ladeira
Paul is a lifelong student of ecology and is a certified Water Cycle Restoration practitioner. He works in the Water Stories Community with colleagues to restore watersheds around the world.
Paul has studied under such notable land designers as Toby Hemenway, Mark Shepard, and Darren Doherty. He is currently working with Zach Weiss and a group of students around the world with the goal of repairing watersheds around the planet.
Events: Water and Climate: The Science and Art of Water Cycle Restoration presentation followed by the Wildlife and Water tour
Cliff Hawley
Cliff Hawley is a certified California Naturalist and Sacramento Audubon member, leading birding and nature tours for Soil Born Farms and the Sacramento Audubon. When Cliff isn’t leading tours you can find him fulfilling his duties as the Vice President of the Central Valley Bird Club and acting Youth Scholarship Program. Cliff also helps manage the Sacramento Audubon Facebook presence and social media team for the Western Field Ornithologists.
Events: Birding at Bobelaine Sanctuary
Jonathan Munger
Jonathan (Jon) G. Munger is the Vice President of Operations with Montna Farms, in Yuba City, California. Montna Farms is a major grower of Japanese short grain specialty rice as well as a leader in working lands conservation. Jon has been with Montna Farms since March 2001.
Jon’s current responsibilities include overall management of the rice farming and drying operation, financial, labor, legal, regulatory, water, land acquisition, administering the FSA, NRCS and Conservation programs on the farm, as well as managing several duck clubs
Events: Sunset, Swans and Rice at Montna Farms in Dingville
David Rosen
David has worked as an environmental educator, classroom teacher, park ranger, and naturalist for over 40 years. His degree in biology and natural resources and extensive field experience have given him an intimate understanding of, and love for, nature and wildlife. He’s passionate about sharing nature with others, especially kids, and he strives to make complex biological concepts fun, understandable, entertaining, and relevant to his audiences. His philosophy for outdoor science education is, “If folks are having fun, then learning will happen naturally!”
He’s worked for Sacramento Splash, a non-profit, environmental education organization for 20 years, teaching hands-on science to elementary students throughout Sacramento County. David’s also a nature and wildlife photographer and his images have been published in magazines, books, postcards, calendars, and numerous other types of publications nationwide. David helped launch the very first CA Swan Festival in Marysville, CA in 2013 and he planned and coordinated all the field trips for the festival for 4 years. David’s never not birding!
Events: Sunset, Swans and Rice at Montna Farms in Dingville
Maureen Geiger
Maureen has been birding for almost 50 years and is a long-time field trip leader for Sacramento Audubon Society. A member of the Field Activities Committee, she has been birding at Bobelaine since the early 1980’s and will enjoy showing everyone the wonder of this Preserve.
Events: Birding at Bobelaine Sanctuary
PRESENTER BIOS
Stephen Fischer
Stephen Fischer’s photographic experience spans 40 years and has taken him across the western US along with Florida and Alaska. He’s photographed birds in the Everglades, and Bosque Del Apache wildlife refuge, Glacier Bay and Bald Eagles along the Chilkat River in Haines, Alaska. However, a native of Sacramento, one of his favorite pastimes is photographing the American River Parkway and other regional wildlife areas. Stephen exhibits his work at the Viewpoint Photographic Gallery in Sacramento, and his images have been used in many non-‐profit venues including California State Parks, ARNHA (150 birds of California’s Great Valley). He has also published a travel guide on Photographing California.
Stephen’s book Travel Guide to California Photography and samples of his work can be found at: www.stephenfischerphotography.com
Events: The Essentials of Bird Photography Workshop (free) followed by Nature/Wildlife Photography tour at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge
Corky Quirk- Bat Program
Corky Quirk is the founder of Northern California Bats (aka NorCal Bats), a Sacramento-based organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of bats.
NorCal Bats is also deeply committed to dispelling the fears and myths about bats that lead to the destruction of roosts and colonies. Corky’s annual walks to the Yolo Basin Causeway each summer to view the 250,000 member colony roosting under the Causeway bridge are a perennial sellout.
Events: Natural History of Bats Presentation (featuring live bats)
Gabe Kerschner
Gabe Kerschner founded Wild Things in 1988, after graduating from the Exotic Animal Training and Management Program at Moorpark College, with the goal of not only providing a home for animals in need, but also sharing with others a respect for and connection to wildlife and an understanding of wildlife conservation. He loves puns and jokes, and always brings lots of smiles and laughs to his programs.
Events: North American Wildlife Presentation
Kate Marden
Kate Marden has been a raptor educator since 1996 and a licensed falconer since 1998. She started her business, West Coast Falconry, in Marin County in 2005. Kate relocated to Yuba County in 2006 where her falconry center continued to thrive. The business holds a federal special use permit that allows her guests to fly captive-bred birds of prey. The focus of West Coast Falconry is to teach about the ancient art of falconry, conservation, the natural history of raptors as well as their role in the environment.
Events: Westcoast Falconry Presentation
Jeremy Saltman
Jeremy was born in London, England, and moved to Canada at the age of 26. In 2004 he moved to Rocklin and then moving to Yuba City in 2009, and has been here ever since. He teaches high school photography at CORE Charter School in Marysville, and is a real estate photographer both here in the valley and on the coast, primarily in the Mendocino and Fort Bragg areas. In his spare time, he photographs landscapes.
Events: Beginning Photography Workshop
Cliff Feldheim
Cliff has worked as a Fish and Wildlife Biologist in the Central Valley for over 30 years and is an award-winning, nationally recognized waterfowl scientist. He works at Ducks Unlimited on waterfowl and wetland conservation projects including multi-benefit projects such as the creation of floodplain and off channel habitats that benefit salmon and waterfowl while incorporating the needs of other special status species.
Events: Sacramento Valley Waterfowl and Salmon Sharing the Floodplain
Paul Ladeira
Paul is a lifelong student of ecology and is a certified Water Cycle Restoration practitioner. He works in the Water Stories Community with colleagues to restore watersheds around the world.
Paul has studied under such notable land designers as Toby Hemenway, Mark Shepard, and Darren Doherty. He is currently working with Zach Weiss and a group of students around the world with the goal of repairing watersheds around the planet.
Events: Water and Climate: The Science and Art of Water Cycle Restoration presentation followed by the Wildlife and Water tour
Jeremy Vesely
Jeremy Vesely is a landscape photographer living in Paradise, CA.
In the field, you will experience his immense joy and excitement over a majestic landscape. His ultimate desire is to bring that same joy and excitement to those who view his work. Armed with a passion and a keen eye for landscape photography, he has been able to show Northern California in a completely new light. Using creative compositions and a consistently evolving processing technique, with a focus on intense color and light, Jeremy has created some of the best photographic art Northern California has to offer.
Jeremy’s work, as well as the ability to purchase prints, can be found on his Website and Facebook pages.
Events:
Beginner Photography Workshop Guide