Science Staff

Sam Scott is a Field Biologist working on the Bird Observatory's "Gulls and Landfills Project." Sam also conducts monthly salt pond surveys throughout the east and south bay. Sam grew up in a family of birdwatchers, and is still getting used to the idea that people will pay him to watch birds! He is an avid backpacker and wilderness guide and has studied birds in the far reaches of the Patagonian Cordillera, and all over much of Utah, Arizona and California.

Sam received his B.A. in Environmental Studies from U.C. Santa Cruz in 2006, with an emphasis on Natural History and Ornithology.

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Caitlin Robinson is a Biologist with the Waterbird Program, focusing on the Western Snowy Plover Recovery Program. Caitlin became interested in bird research while doing habitat restoration in the rainforests of Australia. She monitored Piping Plovers and Least Terns on Long Island, NY. She then traveled the Hudson River estuary, educating the public on environmental issues facing the estuary.

Caitlin has a B.A. in Environmental Studies and American Studies from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. She is currently in the master’s program in Environmental Studies at San Jose State University. Her master’s thesis focuses on Western Snowy Plover use of salt ponds in the south bay.

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Gina Barton manages the Coyote Creek Field Station (CCFS), a long-term banding station monitoring the effects of revegetation on bird populations. She is also in charge of database management for the banding and point count data amassed since the mid-1980s and the data for the Birds and Powerlines project. She is interested in migration, molt limits, and molt patterns in passerines, and how to make this information more accessible to the banding community. Gina began banding as an intern for The Institute for Bird Populations in Leavenworth, Kansas, and became NABC bander certified in 2001.

Gina has a B.S. in Biology from Berry College in Rome, GA. In a previous life, she worked as a DNA analyst for a crime lab, but has since decided to work with living things.

Carley Schacter is the Colonial Waterbird Volunteer Coordinator. Carley is a Biologist who is also working on gull abatement surveys for the "Gulls and Landfills" project and the Bird Observatory's new California Gull banding project. She has broad interests in the fields of Ecology and Animal Behaviour. Carley has previously worked on studies investigating the rapid evolution of urbanized Dark-eyed Juncos in La Jolla, reproductive strategies of White-throated Sparrows in upstate New York, and aggressive behaviour in tropical fish, among others.

Carley received her Master’s degree in Marine Science from the Boston University Marine Program in Woods Hole, MA and her BS in Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution from the University of California, San Diego.

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Alvaro Jaramillo is a Senior Biologist with the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory and a professional tour guide leader for Field Guides Inc., specializing in birding the Americas, in particular southernmost South America. His interests range from field identification, to the evolution of behavior, to conservation biology of migratory birds in California. He has a particular fascination with the ocean and spends much time out at sea in various regions of the world. He authored the field guide Birds of Chile (2003), and coauthored the Helm Series title New World Blackbirds: The Icterids (1999). He also contributed chapters to the National Geographic's Complete Birds of North America and the Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior (2001). He is an associate editor for the ABA periodical publication North American Birds. His passion is not only to understand the biology and identification of birds, but also to pass on this information to enrich the birding experience for other birders and naturalists.

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Sherry Hudson is the Interim Landbird Program Director, and Biologist in both the Landbird and Waterbird Programs. She works on everything from bird surveys, report writing, project management, and program development. In her most recent work at the Bird Observatory she counts gulls at South Bay landfills and quantifies their behavior. Sherry also conducts year-round songbird and vegetation surveys at restored and historic riparian forests along Coyote Creek in San Jose. Her general interests are bird and habitat relationships, and bird migration ecology. Previous research experience includes songbird and habitat surveys in shoreline forests of Washington State, tracking songbirds for a dispersal project through the University of Washington, Snowy Plover surveys in California’s Owen’s Valley, Orange-breasted Falcon surveys in Belize and Guatemala, and bird banding projects in the U.S. and Central America. For her Master’s degree she studied the relationship among songbirds, vegetation, and insects in riparian areas of Oregon and Washington. Sherry received her M.S. in Zoology from the University of Idaho and her B.A. in Biology from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana.

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Outreach

Stephanie Ellis manages all outreach, programs and communications for the Bird Observatory. She coordinates monthly walks and other organization-wide events, and also compiles and edits publications. Stephanie has recently moved to California from Massachusetts where she worked for nearly a decade rehabilitating a wide array of species from Atlantic Puffins to state threatened Diamondback Terrapin turtles. Stephanie worked for the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary as a Seasonal Ornithologist and Naturalist offering a variety of bird trips, workshops and educational classes. Through the Massachusetts Audubon Society Stephanie was also actively involved in restoration efforts involving Piping Plover and Least Tern colonies on the East Coast.

Stephanie graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Boston with a B.A. in Psychology and BioBehavior and an emphasis in Ornithology. She has an Associate's Degree in Business Management.

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