Artemis Eyster is a lifelong birder and experienced educator. As the course leader, Artemis brings six years of experience as an educator, facilitator, and backcountry guide. In each setting, she prioritizes helping participants develop an understanding of the natural world through direct experience. Artemis supports participants through creating and maintaining a positive learning environment where people feel welcomed and supported. Artemis is honored to lead this workshop in the spirit and memory of Bruce Lombardo, whom she assisted in running this workshop in 2015.
While growing up in Southeast Michigan, Artemis spent several hours each day learning about the natural world through nature journaling and attending interpretive hikes with local naturalists. Artemis deepened her understanding of the natural world while studying Geosciences at Princeton University. These academic and outdoor experiences set the foundation for her to teach others about local flora, fauna, and ecosystems, and also instilled a keen understanding of natural phenomena and how to communicate scientific concepts.
Relying on her science background, Artemis nurtures the connection between people and nature through experiential education programs. Her experiences include working at an environmental high school in Wisconsin, serving as an environmental education AmeriCorps member at a non-profit in Colorado, guiding a wilderness therapy company in Colorado and Utah, and leading canoeing trips in Minnesota. Currently, Artemis is the coordinator for the Environmental Center at Fort Lewis College, in Durango Colorado.
In addition to leading the past two Birds by Song courses. Artemis’ birdwatching facilitation experience includes leading birding programs in Minneapolis for the Minneapolis Parks Department and the Urban Bird Collective. Artemis also volunteers her time to contribute to citizen science efforts and has participated in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology project feederwatch, Ann Arbor breeding bird surveys, and sixteen Christmas Bird Counts across five states. When Artemis is not outside, she creates art, plays fiddle, and serves as a hospice volunteer.
In this course, Artemis combines her knowledge of birds, experience as an educator, and skills as a group facilitator to help you have a successful learning experience.
Nora Steele is an artist and naturalist in the Hocking Hills area of Ohio. Her childhood curiosity about mythology led her to explore the outdoors, hoping to encounter the magical fairy folk. Instead, she discovered the captivating magic of nature itself, which she now brings to life through her digital illustrations. Nora's goal is to create art that educates and inspires others to appreciate the beauty of nature, emphasizing the importance of preserving our natural resources for future generations. Her work celebrates the region's flora and fauna, promoting both education and preservation while connecting people with nature through the power of Art.
David Ackerman fell in love with birds and their songs while attending Hocking College in the early 90’s. He worked as a naturalist in Michigan, Ohio, and California before embarking on a degree in Wildlife biology at Humboldt State University. During the summer months, he worked in the Six Rivers National Forest as a field biologist conducting Marbled Murrelet surveys and passerine point counts which, in forests with trees well over 100 feet tall, required the ability to identify birds by song.
After moving back to Ohio, starting a family, and helping to run the family business, birding was always the remedy for staying connected to nature in an increasingly chaotic world. Dave served on the board of the Ohio chapter of The Sierra Club for several years, co-chairing the Forests and Public Lands committee, conducting breeding bird surveys for the U.S. Geological Survey, and joining various Audubon groups for their field trips and Christmas Bird Counts. In recent years he’s found a new outlet for sharing his passion and knowledge of nature with the Arc and its amazing community of staff and volunteers. “There’s nothing better than being in the woods with my fellow ‘Nature Nerds’ and learning from them. It feeds my soul.” The focus of these excursions will be on the breeding birds of the region with some discussion around differentiating similar-sounding songs of differing species.
Teri Gilligan is a lifelong nature enthusiast and she enjoys participating in group learning activities. Teri is a lifelong bird enthusiast and an excellent teacher who is eager to share her skills with all birders of experience levels. Teri has assisted on previous birds by song courses and has shared volunteers her expertise to facilitate many events at the Arc of Appalachia. Teri’s overbrimming optimism, enthusiasm for life, and genuine love for people make her presence at every event unforgettable.
Ann Oliver was raised in Ross County, Ohio near present-day Junction Group Earthworks. Her childhood was punctuated by the calls of Northern Bobwhite quail in the surrounding fields of southern Ohio and sights of terns, pelicans, and egrets on family trips to Florida’s birdy beaches. In fact birding was natural in her family: Ann’s mom pointed out local birds at their Ohio feeders and after her grandmother lost her sight in her mid-90’s she ID’d birds by sound while listening near a window.
In her mid-thirties, Ann become an active birder after attending a local Audubon bird course. For the last several decades, she has birded across the US and around the world from A (Australia) to Z (Zimbabwe). Her birding volunteer work includes being the first female president of Cincinnati Bird Club, a past board member of Ohio Ornithological Society, and current member of Audubon Society of Ohio (ASO) as well as leading birding field trips for local organizations including ASO and Cardinal Land Conservancy.