Kirsten McDonell, B.S.
Kirsten McDonnell received her B.S. in
Natural Resources and Environment with a concentration in
Resource Ecology and Management from the University of
Michigan. Kirsten has over six years of field experience,
and has worked at raptor migration research sites in the
Grand Canyon Arizona, Veracruz Mexico, Whitefish Point
Michigan, Corpus Christi Texas, Goshute Mountains Nevada,
and Jordanelle Utah. Besides migration, she has studied
raptors on their wintering grounds in Mexico and Panama, and
has conducted nest surveys for Prairie Falcons, Ferruginous
Hawks, Swainson’s Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks, Golden Eagles,
and Burrowing Owls. She has also worked with cavity nesting
birds, nest searching and monitoring, and on various forest
ecology projects.
These experiences plus her strong
environmental ethics and consciousness have lead Kirsten to
be involved in formal environmental education programs and
community based initiatives in order to provoke a change in
attitude towards habitat conservation and the proper use of
resources. Kirsten serves as our chief biologist.
Victoria Bailey, M. Ed.
Victoria
moved from Colorado to New Mexico in January 2002 to join a
team working to conserve Birds of Prey. She graduated from
Colorado State University in 1996, with a Masters in
Education. Her experience in Colorado encompassed field
research on Bald eagles, Osprey, and Peregrine falcons for
the Colorado Division of Wildlife. She has environmental
education experience coupled with raptor handling
experience. She has attended a variety of workshops and
classes on raptors, fieldwork, survey techniques, avian
protection issues, and environmental education since her
arrival in New Mexico. She brings a wealth of knowledge
along with her enthusiasm for raptors. She is very
passionate about working for Conservation in the Land of
Enchantment.
She has
been working with Envirological Services for four years and
is now the Associate Director of this growing company. She
is particularly excited and motivated by the great
biologists she is privileged to call her co-workers. She
really enjoys the variety of projects they are contracted to
do, however she favors raptor and Loggerhead shrike
surveys. The entire team of biologists at Envirological
Services work together on their fascinating Burrowing owl
projects (find our more in Projects on this website!).
She
maintains a permit with Wildlife Rescue (WRI), a non-profit
organization located in Albuquerque. She lives in Corrales
near the Bosque and Rio Grande where the abundance of birds,
(Bald eagles and Sandhill cranes in the winter!!!) and
nesting raptors keeps a smile on her face! If you’d like to
contact her regarding any wildlife issue or “bird talk” she
welcomes your comments.
Marianne Wootten, M.BA.
Marianne received an Associate of Science and a Bachelor's of Business Administration in Human Resource Management from New Mexico State University.
and completed a Master's of Business Administration in Accounting at the University of Phoenix. She has experience in accounting for non profit and for profit businesses and in Human Resource Management. She has extensive experience working with computer programming and is now
having fun with Geographical Information Systems (GIS).
She gained a deep appreciation of the environment from her parents and worked with her father propagating native plants for
many years. She has a firm knowledge of plant species local to New Mexico. She is on the board of directors for
T&E Incorporated, a non-profit foundation dedicated in furthering environmental research by students.
Marianne is thrilled to be able to combine all her training
and experience to do something that she truly loves. Marianne serves as our business manager.
Octavio Cruz, B.S.
Octavio Cruz was born and lived for
most of his life in Veracruz, Mexico. He acquired his
conservation conscience by being exposed to illegal
trafficking of wildlife during a summer vacation at the age
of 13. That same year he started to rehabilitate birds of
prey using falconry, and he has practiced this art ever
since then. Octavio (Tavo) is an ornithologist by trade,
obtaining his degree in Biology from Universidad Veracruzana,
and he has spent time working with many different bird
species. He has worked with shorebirds and waterfowl in
Alaska, migratory passerines and raptors in the tropics of
Mexico and Panama, and nesting and migratory raptors in the
southwest United States and Mexico. Octavio has worked
developing tourism for conservation, as a high-school
professor, as an environmental and hunter educator, and as a
field guide and field biologist, always having in mind a
high value of environmental protection.
In
1988, him and a group of four friends from his childhood
discovered what would three years later turn into the
Veracruz: River of Raptors Project, where he worked for 9
seasons. In 1997 his love for conservation lead him to start
the Alvarado Wetlands Conservation Project and afterwards
the Veracruz Wetlands Conservation Initiative. In 2004 he
participated in the conservation of Harpy Eagles in Panama
by designing an education and outreach program for that
country. In 2005, Octavio migrated to New Mexico following
his heart, and found in Envirological Services, Inc. not
only the most professional staff, and more importantly, the
kindest people, but also the possibility to contribute in
the development of an effective strategy for the
conservation of Burrowing Owls.
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