DR. ANDRÉ F RAINE – SCIENCE DIRECTOR

André is an expert on seabirds and has carried out research and conservation work for Hawaii’s three endangered seabirds, as well as consulting on seabird projects around the world. His extensive experience includes:

multi-site seabird monitoring projects using techniques including acoustic monitoring, radar and burrow cameras.
seabird tracking projects (using satellite tags, data loggers and geolocators).
seabird surveys (including location of breeding colonies for rare birds) and banding.
seabird translocation and social attraction to predator proof fence sites.
consultation and expert advice to scientists and policy makers from US Fish & Wildlife, the State of Hawaii, NGOs and private entities.

Internationally, Andre has been involved in seabird projects in Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Malta, and the UK.

Beyond seabirds, André has worldwide experience in conservation and biological monitoring and is highly versed in a variety of survey techniques for passerines, raptors, and waterbirds, as well as small mammals, large mammals, reptiles, and insects. As the Conservation Manager for BirdLife Malta, André produced the country’s first Breeding Bird Atlas, spearheaded anti-poaching activities, and provided scientific data and expert advice to the European Union and the Maltese Government.

André has a Masters in Conservation (Honors) from the University College London and a Ph.D. from the University of East Anglia. He is the lead or co-author of 28 scientific papers and has written five books on bird and wildlife identification. Andre has a banding permit in the UK, Malta, and Hawaiʻi.

HELEN RAINE – EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Helen Raine is an expert in conservation project management. Her most recent projects have included:

Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture; as Hawaiʻi Wetlands Conservation Co-ordinator, she provides advice and support to encourage the creation, restoration and management of habitat for endangered waterbirds.
The Kauaʻi Seabird Habitat Conservation Plan (KSHCP); created the Management Plan for a proposed Social Attraction Site for two endangered seabirds within a predator-proof fence and consulted on the main HCP document.
Kauaʻi Forest Bird Recovery Project (KFBRP); volunteered and worked on a wide range of projects including publicity materials, successful grant writing, bird banding, point counts, mosquito monitoring trips and egg harvesting trips for a captive breeding project of highly endangered forest passerines within the Alakaʻi Swamp.

In Europe, Helen managed the EU LIFE Yelkouan Shearwater Project, Malta’s largest conservation project; partners included the Armed Forces of Malta, HSBC bank, Malta Maritime Authority, and international NGOs. Work included:

The creation and execution of the seabird colony management plan. The plan was used by the Maltese government as a template for other protected seabird colonies in Malta.
The first major rat eradication project in the Maltese isles to protect endangered seabirds.
Research included the first use of cutting-edge technology on this species, including GPS data loggers, geolocators and satellite tags. The output of this work was a key report to advise the government on a roadmap to designate Marine SPAs (several of which have since been declared).

Helen is also a writer and journalist and has published hundreds of articles on a wide range of topics, particularly the environment and travel, including the American Birding Association’s Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaiʻi. She has an MSc in Conservation from University College London.

MARC TRAVERS – SENIOR SCIENTIST

Marc has conducted 10 years of research quantifying avian collisions with infrastructure in concert with developing and testing solutions to prevent collisions. In collaboration with partners, Marc has innovated this field by developing novel monitoring solutions featured in Nature’s online magazine and has developed novel collision prevention technology.

Additionally, Marc’s research on seabirds and other taxa has taken him to a number of islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the Canadian Arctic, and the Antarctic where he has helped local teams initiate a powerline monitoring program, studied the indirect demographic consequences of nest predation, climate changed induced diet shifts in birds and Polar Bears, niche partitioning, avian disease dynamics, physiological indicators of health in wildlife.

SCOTT DRISKILL – Spatial Data Analyst

Scott’s expertise is at the intersection of spatial ecology, wildlife biology, geographic information systems, and data management. This includes four years working with Hawaiʻi’s endangered seabirds. His work involves processing, analysis, and management of spatial and non-spatial data including:
• Seabird tracking data such as satellite tags and dataloggers
• Seabird monitoring data
• Landscape-level spatial data modelling
• Spatial and non-spatial database management and design
• Statistical analysis

Such efforts have culminated in several scientific papers published with his colleagues at ARC. Before he directed his efforts to study and conserve seabirds in Hawaii, Scott worked for a decade in various environmental fields in South Africa. He has applied his skills in the fields of savannah ecology, wetland conservation, and soil science, while also providing consulting services in the field of GIS. Scott received his MSc in GIS from Southampton University, focusing on remote sensing and landscape ecology of tropical forests in the Congo.

jENNIFER rOTHE – Fieldcrew Lead – Colony Monitoring

Raised with a canoe paddle in hand, Jen transformed her early love of the outdoors into a B.Sc. in Biology and Wildlife Ecology from UW Stevens Point (’10). She brings to ARC fourteen years of ornithological field experience gleaned from a variety of projects in nine US states. While Jen’s early career focused largely on raptors, four years investigating the breeding ecology of the mysterious Marbled Murrelet ignited a budding passion for seabirds. Guiding for Oregon Pelagic Tours helped seal the deal: after a striking chance encounter with a Hawaiian Petrel, she followed these magnificent birds across the Pacific.

Jen is a dedicated birder who co-authors the quarterly Hawaii Region reports for the American Birding Association’s North American Birds publication. She also enjoys gardening, playing guitar/ piano/ ukulele, and learning everything she can from her hula ‘ohana.

KARIM HANNA – Fieldcrew Lead – IMMP

Karim attended Stony Brook University and received a B.A. in Ecosystems and Human Impact while studying and exploring New York’s coastline. As a Doris Duke Conservation Scholars, Karim is committed to making conservation more accessible for all.

Before joining ARC, Karim worked in neglected wetlands in Utah and found his passion for species conservation and habitat restoration. Now working with endangered seabirds on Kaua’i, Karim has happily returned to his coastal roots both educationally and in upbringing.

BOBBY BRITTINGHAM – SEABIRD TECHNICIAN

Bobby has always been extremely passionate about working to conserve endangered species and thus graduated from the University of Maine with a B.S. in Wildlife Ecology in the fall of 2019. He has worked extensively with mammals, amphibians and reptiles; but has a soft spot for seabirds since monitoring tern and puffin colonies in his home state of Maine in 2018.

Before joining ARC in early 2021, Bobby was a seasonal technician with Save Our Shearwaters on Kaua’i where he was introduced to native Hawaiian birds through a rehabilitation setting. Bobby is thrilled to be at ARC working with Hawaiian endangered seabirds as he progresses his career in marine ornithology.

JOEY LEIBRECHT – SEABIRD TECHNICIAN

Joey brings an extremely diverse skill set to ARC. For ten years Joey worked as a professional artist, multi-media designer, and web developer before being introduced to the world of conservation biology. He has over ten years of wildlife field research and management experience working with a diverse array of wildlife species including endangered forest birds of the Hawaiian Islands, Northern Spotted Owl, Black-backed Woodpecker, New World Warblers, Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Canada Goose, Pheasant species, and a variety of small mammals.

Joey is an active member of the Wild Lens Collective – a non-profit artist collective focused on the intersection of creative storytelling and environmental conservation. He has co-directed and edited several short films such as Aikhag – A Personal Journey, A New Message for Smokey, and Souls of the Vermilion Sea: Searching for the Vaquita.

TLELL WOLF – Seabird TECHNICIAN

Tlell researched the beautiful Oregon Spotted Frog while in high school. For her senior year of high school, she received a full scholarship from the Department of State to be an exchange student in Turkey. She graduated with a B.S. in Biology in 2020 from Portland State University.

Before coming to Kaua’i, she worked in Washington hunting invasive bullfrogs. She enjoys reading, hiking, baking pies, and painting.

ADrian burke – Seabird TECHNICIAN – IMMp

Adrian is a passionate birder and naturalist determined to dedicate his life and career to conservation. Though interested in nature and wildlife since a young age, his interest in ecology and conservation began to skyrocket when he began visiting NYC’s Central Park in search of birds and other native wildlife while he was in high school.

Adrian graduated with a B.S. in Biology from Binghamton University in 2020. Since then, he has volunteered with the US Fish & Wildlife Service in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge working on a long-term tundra nesting birds study out of a remote field camp, volunteered with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game banding dabbling ducks at a waterfowl refuge in Fairbanks, and worked as a lift operator at Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado. He is ecstatic to have the opportunity to work on applied conservation of endangered seabirds with ARC’s IMMP on Kauai.

Emmylou Kidder – Seabird TECHNICIAN – IMMp

Emmylou is an early-career marine ornithologist and science communicator dedicated to seabird research and management. She received her B.S. in Integrative Biology from Christopher Newport University in the spring of 2021, where she conducted a research project investigating the efficacy of thermal imaging technology for surveying seabird colonies in the Gulf of Alaska. As part of her undergraduate experience, she studied abroad in the Galapagos Islands, where an albatross encounter kindled her passion for ocean birds.

Emmylou most recently worked as an outreach assistant for the Audubon Seabird Institute’s “Project Puffin” in Maine and with Normandeau Associates as an environmental consultant on a project assessing seabird interactions with pelagic wind turbines in Virginia. She is currently writing a book about storm-petrel science and the folklore surrounding these species in different parts of the world!