Sarasota Audubon Society Instructors

Jamie Rotenberg is an Emeritus Professor of Ornithology in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He received his PhD at the University of California Riverside, specializing in community ecology. Jamie loves teaching students of all ages. When out in the field, Jamie has conducted avian monitoring and research projects in Central America, Mexico and the Carolinas and has worked on habitat restoration for the bird community. He also has worked with single-species conservation projects of Wood Thrush, Painted Buntings, and Harpy Eagles.

Margi Haas is on the Board of Directors and also Program Director for Sarasota Audubon, she has been inviting world-class speakers for our general meetings since 2017. Margi also leads bird walks in Swallow-Tailed Kite habitat and shines a spotlight on the important work of Avian Activists locally and abroad.

After working on Wall Street for seven years, she ran her own coaching and executive recruiting business in New York City and Tokyo before moving to Florida in 2014.  She is writing a memoir of her amazing experiences birding and her unique observations and studies of Swallow-tailed kites in Florida.

Forrest Rowland is a world class birding guide with Rockjumper Birding Tours. He took his first trip to the Neotropics at the tender age of 9 and this has blossomed into a lifelong love affair with the region’s birds and wildlife. Forrest has a technical education in Genetics but has since spent many years in the field, honing his birding skills throughout the Americas.

Cathy is a Sarasota resident and she retreats up north to New England in the summertime where she has family. Cathy began birding by simply showing up to a Guided Tour of the Celery Fields led by Stu Wilson and Kathryn Young. Seeing a Loggerhead Shrike through the scope was an “it” moment for her.  With lots of sharing by many Sarasota Audubon Society members, Cathy has become a Boardwalk Naturalist and helps lead various field trips. She also helps out with Bird Feeders and Owl Box monitoring at the Celery Fields. Cathy has been to all seven continents on Birding adventures. She visited Antarctica this past January and it was  definitely a once in a lifetime experience, but all of them really are, aren’t they?!

Stu has been a wildlife lover his entire life and an avid birder since 2000.  He moved to Sarasota permanently in 2011 after 25 years in Austin, TX.  He received a Master’s Degree in Water Resources Engineering from the University of Kansas in 1986, but “retired early” from consulting in 1986 in order to start a small travel company specializing in adventure travel to New Zealand.  Since 2002, Stu has conducted nearly 70 USGS Breeding Bird Surveys, participated in nearly 50 Christmas Bird Counts in Texas and Florida.  Currently, he leads walks for and serves on the Board of Sarasota Audubon.  When not birding, Stu runs a small foundation which makes grants for conservation purposes, travels worldwide for birding with his partner Cathy Paris, puzzles over crosswords, and explores pubs.  A fun fact about Stu is that he has climbed all the “14-ers” in Colorado (55).

Kathryn earned her B.S. in Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After transitioning into semi-retirement, she discovered her passion for birding in 2005 when she relocated to Florida with her husband from MN/WI.

Presently, she serves on the Board of Directors of the Sarasota Audubon Society, holding the role of 1st VP. Her involvement extended to positions such as Education Chair and Activities Director where she taught Birding and eBird classes. Kathryn also coordinated and led Road Scholar Birding programs for the Sarasota Audubon, in addition to delivering presentations for various clubs within the Sarasota/Manatee areas.