youth – Morro Bay Bird Festival

EVENTS FOR YOUTH - LED BY GIFTED STUDENTS

Bird watching is a great way for our gifted students leaders to share their interests and knowledge with others while also promoting a deeper appreciation for the natural world. By leading bird watching events, they inspire others to take an interest in bird watching and become more engaged with the environment around them.

ABOUT FIONA GILLOGLY

Born and raised in Northern California, Fiona Clare Gillogly, age 20, is an avid birder, artist, nature journaler, and advocate for nature. She has taught classes and given talks on birding and nature journaling for many organizations, including Audubon California, the Exploratorium in San Francisco, Environment for the Americas/World Migratory Bird Day, the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, and the Point Reyes Birding Festival. In June 2020, the American Birding Association's Birding magazine published Fiona's article and illustrations, "A Birder's Brain on Paper: How keeping a nature journal improves our birding experiences." Over the past 8 years, Fiona has volunteered many hours bird banding, monitoring nest boxes, and helping with Christmas Bird Counts. Learn more at fionasongbird.com.

EVENTS WITH FIONA

ABOUT LARA TSENG

Lara Tseng is 16 years old and in her junior year of college through the Early Entrance Program at Cal State LA, where she is majoring in biology and minoring in bioinformatics. After college, she hopes to go to graduate school to study evolutionary genomics and pursue a career in ornithology. Lara is especially interested in studying a circumpolar breeding shorebird, the dunlin, and the complex variation seen across its many subspecies. Previously, she has published research on calcium consumption in western bluebirds. Lara is also an active member of various young birder groups and is a member of the student programs committee at Western Field Ornithologists.

EVENTS WITH LARA

ABOUT MAX TAYLOR

Max Taylor is 17 and has birding for most of his life, quickly falling in love with the community and peaceful yet thrilling experiences that birding encompasses. Max is passionate about the conservation of our planet's natural spaces and their inhabitants through scientific research and educational outreach. He works with Point Blue Nature Conservancy, managing SLO county's Seabird Nesting Success and Disturbance Surveys along with analysis of local Least Tern nesting and banding. Over the years Max has led numerous walks for the Morro Bay Bird Festival in addition to walks for Morro Bay's local Audubon chapter. Recipient of Morro Cost Audubon's American Birding Association camp Colorado scholarship, Max believes inspiring the next generation of naturalists and conservationists is key to our future.

EVENTS WITH MAX