Education Team - Staff
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies has a diverse team of educations, coordinators and bird banders. Back row left to right: Xitlaly Avitia Valdez, Colin Woolley, Stephanie Wheeler, Sherry Nickolaus, Lark BenDaniel, Becky Heath and Nellie Boyd-Owens. Front row left to right: Delanie Bruce, Sarah Doxon, Meredith McBurney and Noelle Grunwald.
Education Staff
Education Director (Brighton, CO)
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Sherry grew up with a love for all things wild, leading her to acquire a Bachelor’s Degree in Wildlife Science from the University of Washington and a Master’s Degree in Conservation Biology from Miami University. Working with animals and children has always been a passion and she firmly believes children are our future and our hope. Sherry thrives on sharing her enthusiasm and helping the community make a personal connection with birds and the natural world. When not working, she spends her time with her family playing, gardening, mini-farming, and enjoying the outdoors.
(303) 659-4348 x 11
Assistant Education Director (Brighton, CO)
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Becky grew up in upstate New York before moving to mid-coastal Maine, where she earned her degree in Marine Biology from Unity College. Summers were spent there working as a Camp Counselor & Day Camp Coordinator and fostered a love of experiential education in the camp setting. After graduation, she made the move to the greater Houston area where she worked in several camp roles from Discovery Instructor to Camp Director. It was in these years of outdoor education, working with captive birds of prey that she developed an appreciation for and excitement teaching about birds. Becky’s deep love of camp and sharing the natural world with others is what led here to Bird Conservancy’s camp programs! In her free time, you’ll find Becky hiking and camping with her pup, Hagrid, or enjoying a cozy knitting project with a good cup of coffee.
(303) 659-4348 x 49
Education Manager (Scottsbluff, NE)
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Originally from eastern Nebraska, Delanie received a Bachelor’s Degree in Fisheries and Wildlife from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Master’s Degree in Environmental Education from Goshen College. Delanie’s experience as an environmental educator has taken her from state parks in eastern Nebraska and Indiana to schools in the Bahamas to an outdoors camp in Michigan to a sustainability non-profit in Nevada, to now with the Bird Conservancy in western Nebraska. As an avid outdoor enthusiast, Delanie loves to share her passion for hiking, traveling, reptiles, amphibians, and birds with friends, family, and anyone else she encounters. When not working, she enjoys reading, skydiving, searching for rattlesnakes, and snuggling with her cat, Bentley.
(308) 633-1013
Education Manager (Brighton, CO)
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Growing up as a free-range child in the wilds of rural Iowa, Sarah’s connection with nature was fostered from an early age. This connection prompted her to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Animal Ecology from Iowa State University (2011) and then a Master’s Degree in Conservation Biology from Miami University (2017). Realizing that most children no longer have the opportunity to connect with nature in safe, meaningful ways, and that these early experiences help to shape conservation-minded adults, she has made it her mission to innovate ways to bring children and nature back together. When not teaching, Sarah can be found hiking, reading, or cooking with her husband.
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Education Manager (Fort Collins, CO)
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Stephanie grew up in the Chicago suburbs where she learned to appreciate the outdoors and wildlife. While pursuing her bachelor’s degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she took an ornithology course and fell in love with birds. Following her bachelor’s degree, she had opportunities to work with birds in a number of locations including Illinois, Hawaii, Trinidad and Tobago, and Louisiana. Wanting to find a way to work more with people in conservation, Stephanie spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea, West Africa. There she partnered with communities in search of sustainable solutions to farming and gardening. After completing her service she returned to school and earned her doctorate in Biology at the University of Florida where she studied the ecology and behavior of Vitelline Masked Weavers in Kenya with focus on anthropogenic affects. This was also an opportunity for Stephanie to teach courses and develop public outreach activities. She found joy in sharing her excitement about birds and is passionate about helping communities to embrace stewardship of their local wildlife through education.
Banding Manager (Brighton, CO)
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Colin grew up in Oregon and fell in love with birds on family trips to Malhuer National Wildlife Refuge. He took his first field job in 2004 studying sagebrush shrub-steppe birds and has been working in avian monitoring and research ever since. This work has taken him across the U.S., Canada, and Central America. He received his Bachelor’s in Conservation Biology from Prescott College and his Master’s in Biology from University of Colorado, Denver. He partnered with Bird Conservancy of the Rockies for his Master’s thesis studying breeding ecology and habitat use of Mountain Plovers. He has been banding birds for over 10 years and loves to share this experience with others. He has a borderline-obsessive affinity for Spizella sparrows and Toxostoma thrashers. His other interests include hiking, traveling, auto mechanics, and starting (and occasionally finishing) overly-complicated board-games.
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Bander & Volunteer Coordinator (Brighton, CO)
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Meredith made her decision to make conserving birds and their habitats her second career in 1997 when she held a warbler in the hand for the first time while volunteering for Earthwatch in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Returning to Colorado, she took Hugh and Urling Kingery’s beginning birder class, obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Zoology from Colorado State University, and learned her banding skills from the many excellent banders who preceded her as the bander at the Barr Lake station. She has worked for the Bird Conservancy since 2004, and bands in the spring at Chatfield and the fall at Barr Lake. She loves the hands-on experience of banding, and she loves sharing that experience with the hundreds of kids and adults who visit the banding stations every year.
Environmental Educator (Scottsbluff, NE)
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Growing up in Wisconsin, Noelle’s parents instilled in her a deep sense of wonder and appreciation for the natural world. Her love of the outdoors would ultimately lead her to pursue and attain a Bachelor’s Degree in Natural Resource Management with an emphasis in Environmental Education/Interpretation from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point as well as a Master’s Degree in Environmental Education from the University of Minnesota Duluth. Noelle has worked throughout the United States educating individuals of all ages about the beauty and importance of the natural world around them. Her favorite topics to teach about are animal adaptations and, of course, birds! In her spare time, Noelle enjoys adventures of all kinds with her park ranger husband, daughter, and their “prairie dog” Rosie. After these adventures she enjoys crocheting, reading, or obsessing over a puzzle.
Environmental Educator (Brighton, CO)
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Payson grew up in Fort Collins, CO with a family that enjoyed the outdoors, going camping, hiking, skiing and more. Payson attended Colorado State University, earning a Bachelor’s in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology. While initially interested in fisheries, he discovered bird conservation to be far more enjoyable, joining birding clubs and volunteering with hawk monitoring or restoration projects along the way. After graduating, Payson started at Bird Conservancy as a Seasonal Avian Field Technician performing bird point counts in the Great Plains and Northern Colorado. He then transitioned to the Environmental Educator role, looking to inspire his same passion for birds in all members of our community. When outside of work, Payson is usually spending time with friends and family, attempting to photograph birds, listening to music, overcomplicating drinking coffee, or playing competitive card games.
School Programs Coordinator (Brighton, CO)
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Nellie grew up in the hills of Western Massachusetts, climbing trees, listening for birds, and rock-hopping along the banks of the Deerfield River. Her own deep-rooted connection to the land spurred the formal study of human/nature relationships and eco-poetry at Sewanee: The University of the South, where she earned a B.A. in Environmental Arts and Humanities. During a semester abroad, Nellie conducted ethno-ornithological research in Extremadura, Spain, a region known for its avian diversity and birdwatching tourism. It was here her childhood curiosity for birdlife was reawakened. Since joining Bird Conservancy’s education team, — first as an AmeriCorps member in January of 2023 — she’s discovered a passion for teaching the young, trading knowledge with fellow birders, and helping connect the community to the natural world. Outside of work, you might find Nellie hiking in the mountains, writing creatively, laughing with friends, or in the kitchen cooking a massive pot of soup!
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