The Young Birders Network is proudly lead by an outstanding group of teens from across the world with the support from our fantastic adult advisors. Here you can get to meet these amazing people and read about what they are up to.

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Youth Leadership Representatives

Anna Siegel

Maine, USA
Favorite bird: Barn Owl

Anna Siegel is a high schooler in Portland, Maine and a member of the Maine Young Birders Club. She began birding after an encounter with a rare Orange-breasted Falcon funneled her general passion for wildlife into the avian sphere. She is an aspiring conservation ornithologist, and has done research with a study looking at boreal natives and neotropical migrants in Maine's timber forest. She is also an activist with Maine Youth for Climate Justice, fighting for bold and equitable environmental policy.

Eliza Vrlik

Oregon, USA
Favorite bird: Marbled Godwit

Hi! My name is Eliza and I'm 17! I've been birding since 8th grade when I did a backyard bird project for school. My initial motivator however was my dad who's been a forest ranger and avid birder in Slovakia for most of his life. I visit him during the summers and in recent years have attended a short ornithology camp with him where we help clean a small bird island to make conditions ideal for terns and gulls. Along with birding I love to photograph wildlife, paint, hang out with my youth group and bake!

Ezra Cohen

Oregon, USA
Favorite bird: Northern Flicker

Hi! My name is Ezra Cohen. I am 15 years old and I have been birding for about four years. Before I began actually birding, my family had feeders, so I learned lots of the common birds early. From those years of feeder-watching came my favorite bird, the Northern Flicker. My spark birds, that pushed me into the actual world of birding, came when my family was on a trip to British Columbia in June of 2016. There, with the help of a local guide, we saw Townsends Warblers, Red Crossbills and Marbled Murrelets; I couldn't believe my eyes! From then on, I was a birder. I went to the Oregon Birding Association's annual meeting in 2018, where I met some other members of the local birding community who I would become friends with, and who would end up taking me to chase that nemesis county bird that I couldn't have gotten to otherwise. In 2019, I got a scholarship to the WFO's annual meeting where I met some fellow members of the young birders community. I especially enjoy participating in monitoring and volunteer projects such as Christmas Bird Counts and cormorant monitoring on the Oregon Coast and in 2018, I designed and completed a shorebird monitoring project at my local wildlife refuge. Besides birding, I enjoy running, playing basketball with my brother and school team, and hiking and camping around Oregon.

Helena Souffrant

Ohio, USA
Favorite bird: Secretary Bird

I first became interested in birds when I was 11 years old. I was sitting at the bird window at my local nature center and saw a female ruby throated hummingbird at the feeder. In the past, I have been involved in eastern bluebird conservation work for the Holden Arboretum and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I love birding because it takes me all over the world and I get to meet people who are amazingly talented, knowledgeable, and passionate about birding and the natural world. When I'm not birding, I like to go kayaking, hiking with my mom, play my hammered and mountain dulcimers, and hang out with my friends.

Isaac Denzer

Oregon, USA
Favorite bird: Red-faced Warbler

I'm a 17 year old birder from Oregon. I've been a bonafide bird nerd since I was nine, when a trip to a local raptor center sparked my interest. I love migration birding, and anything involving a good warbler or shorebird flock. One of my favorite things, however, is going on birding roadtrips. I also enjoy photography, which complements birding very well. I believe in the importance of citizen science, so I use eBird and participate in CBCs and other volunteer projects on a regular basis. I'm a co-organizer of the Benton County Big Sit, and enjoy writing field notes or the occasional article for the statewide birding magazine, Oregon Birds. Aside from birding, I love almost anything outdoors - hiking in the mountains, skiing, boating, backpacking, biking, whatever - and am always down for a roadtrip or adventure. I enjoy running and compete on the cross-country and track teams at my local high school.

Jacob Mathison

Oregon, USA
Favorite bird: Northern Saw-whet Owl

I've been birding since mid-2015, and have spent the weekends and summers of the past few years exploring and birding the US, Mexico, and Europe. I spend most of my free time outside, running, biking, and playing Ultimate Frisbee, obviously with birds on my mind all the while. I am pursuing photography as well, specializing in travel and nature work. Some of my favorite birding areas include Southeastern Oregon, the Bay Area, and Andalucía, Spain. I attend Crescent Valley High School in Corvallis, OR.

Lorena Patrício

São Paulo, Brazil
Favorite bird: Spot-winged Wood-Quail

I started birding in 2012 when I was 10 years old. At that time, I was fascinated by owls, and raptors because of my favorite fantasy series at the time "the Legend of Guardians." That is when I started getting into bird photography and then got my first pair of binoculars when I was 13. As a Brazilian, I feel lucky to live in a country packed with biodiversity. What amazes me the most about birds is their evolution through natural and sexual selection in harmony with ecosystems.  When I'm birding, I'm always thinking about the evolution of their behaviors, physical traits, and wonder about the molecular and chemical pathways producing them. Over the last 8 years I've been birding, I've been involved in many bird projects. In 2017 I published a local bird guide for the area around Bootucatu, where I live, and started leading environmental awareness courses for kids at my school. In 2018 I joined the 10th annual Cornell Lab of Ornithology Young Birders Event. After that, I organized Young Birders Brazil with the Young Birders Event leaders. This program is held in a different location in Brazil every January for a select group of national and international birders. Recently, I started a bird survey in a local patch of Cerrado Savanna to design a protected area for endangered wildlife.
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Besides birding, I love drawing and arts. I am also a sports fan; I enjoy running and I have been doing aerial silks for almost 10 years. In the near future, I intend to go to the university to study biology or environmental science, focusing on conservation and evolution.

Luke Suchoski

Oregon, USA
Favorite bird: Dark-eyed junco

My name is Luke and I have been birding since 2018. I enjoy going birding on the Crown Zellerbach trail. My favorite thing about birding is getting outside and enjoying the nature. I am on the cross country team at my school and am the local birding club president.

Simon Tolzmann

Illinois, USA
Favorite bird: Long-billed Curlew

I’ve been birding for almost 5 years now, and it all started when I saw an American Kestrel chasing a Peregrine Falcon. A couple months later I was in Colorado with my grandpa who has been birding for over 6 decades, and we went out around Boulder county in search lots of birds. We found 98 species, which was awesome because that meant that on my first day of birding I was starting out with 98 species! A couple years ago I was introduced to iNaturalist, and it changed my world even more. I started noting everything else around me, and now I’ve observed thousands of species of living things because of it. I’ve spent much of this year herping, specifically for Salamanders and Snakes. I also really like trying to document obscure butterflies too. As far as my plans for the future go, I’d like to become some sort of ornithologist, or some sort of naturalist. Really anything that keeps me seeing new things.

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Adult Leadership Advisors

Becca Mathews

Ohio, USA
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Becca has a degree in Environmental Biology, but experiencing how inspiring it can be to teach about something you are passionate about hooked her into the field of Environmental Education. Now with eight years experience working in the field Becca has taught people of all ages in both formal and non-formal education settings. Developing nature based curriculums, managing summer camps, guiding field trips, and planning public outreach events are a sampling of the scope of her experience. Presently,  Becca is the Education Director at Black Swamp Bird Observatory where she overseas the Young Birders Network and Ohio Young Birders Club. ​

Tyler Ficker

Ohio, U.S.A.

​Tyler is a Cincinnati native who found his passion for birding when his 4th grade teacher incorporated bird identification into the science curriculum. He first visited the Northwest Ohio region for the Biggest Week in American Birding in the 5th grade and has been back every year since then, now as a guide and a field trip coordinator. Tyler earned a Forestry, Fisheries and Wildlife degree from the School of Environmental and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University. Tyler was a co-founder of Lights Out Buckeyes—part of Ohio Lights Out, a network of programs aimed at making urban landscapes (in this case, the Ohio State campus) safer for migratory birds. He also worked as a field technician for the Ohio Division of Wildlife surveying grassland species. Tyler served as as the Southwest Regional Director for the Ohio Ornithological Society, furthering his connections within the Ohio birding community. He is a professional portrait and wedding photographer as well as a graphic designer. He is also a birding and bird photography guide with Sabrewing Nature Tours.

Ryan Jacob

Ohio, USA
Favorite bird: Hooded Warbler

Ryan is an Ohio native and an avid naturalist, with a particular interest in birds and odonata. Ryan has spent much of his career communicating with the public about the natural world and working with birds while performing field research. Ryan is also a North American Bird Banding Council (NABC) certified bird bander and trainer. He is currently the Staff Ornithologist at Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO), working as one of the primary bird banders at BSBO's research stations, heading BSBO's expansion into avian radio telemetry, and aiding in BSBO's many school and public programs. 

Jennie Duberstein

Arizona, USA
Favorite bird: Violet-green Swallow

Jennie Duberstein is a wildlife biologist and conservation social scientist who has spent her professional career working to build partnerships for bird and habitat conservation across the United States and northwest Mexico. She currently directs the Sonoran Joint Venture, a binational conservation partnership to conserve the unique birds and habitats of the southwest U.S. and northwest Mexico. Jennie has also worked with young birders for many years, directing field courses, summer camps, and conferences, and generally helping to connect young birders with opportunities and each other. She volunteers as the American Birding Association's Young Birder Liaison and Camp Colorado Director, and also co-leads VENT's Camp Chiricahua. Jennie is an avid trail runner and folk musician. She received her B.S. in Wildlife Biology from Virginia Tech and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Arizona’s School of Natural Resources and the Environment.