Scott Weidensaul is the author of nearly 30 books on natural history, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist "Living on the Wind" and his latest, the New York Times bestseller "A World on the Wing." Weidensaul is a contributing editor for Audubon and writes for a variety of other publications, including Bird Watcher's Digest and Living Bird. He is a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society and an active field researcher, studying saw-whet owl migration for more than 25 years, as well as winter hummingbirds in the East, bird migration in Alaska, and the winter movements of snowy owls through Project SNOWstorm, which he co-founded. He lives in New Hampshire, and is the chair of the Friends of Hog Island board of directors.

Holly Merker has been in awe of birds and the wonders of the natural world since childhood. She shares her passion by connecting others to nature in her work as a professional birding guide and nature-based wellness specialist, award-winning author, and public speaker. Combining professional backgrounds in bird identification, art therapy, certification in nature and forest therapy and wellness counseling, and mindfulness practice, she works as a global advocate for Mindful Birding. With dedication to bird conservation, Holly has been the eBird state coordinator/data reviewer for Pennsylvania since 2005 and was a two-term voting member and Chairperson of the Pennsylvania Ornithological Records Committee. She considers herself a migration junkie and lives her life around the seasonal journeys of birds. Holly believes strongly that birding holds a key to wellbeing, co-authoring two books on this subject, and founding the Mindful Birding Network and co-hosting the Mindful Birding Podcast.

Sara Morris is currently the Executive Director of the Shoals Marine Lab, an educational field station on Appledore Island, Maine, jointly operated by the University of New Hampshire and Cornell University. Her connection to Appledore and the Shoals Marine Lab dates back to 1990, when she began her studies of bird migration as a graduate student at Cornell University. She received her PhD in 1996 and joined the faculty at Canisius College that year. At Canisius, she taught a variety of courses including ornithology, vertebrate zoology, field ecology, evolution and ecology, and anatomy and physiology of plants and animals. Her career at Canisius included achieving tenure, attaining promotion to full professor, coordination of the Environmental Science Program, service as Co-chair of the Biology Department, selection as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, and ultimately selection as Vice President for Academic Affairs. At Canisius, she was honored with induction into several honor societies, receiving the Arts and Sciences Teaching Award, and receiving the Koessler Distinguished Faculty Award, the highest honor for a faculty member. After more than 27 years at Canisius, the last nine of which were in academic administration, she retired from Canisius in 2024, received the honor of emeritus status, and immediately accepted the passion project of leading the Shoals Marine Lab. Shoals is the largest and oldest marine lab focused on undergraduate research. Shoals also provides extensive research opportunities, building of community, and advancement of sustainable practices and infrastructure. Shoals focuses on immersive, place-based education, and she is thrilled to be facilitating the continued transformative educational experiences Shoals provides. Sara’s research program has focused on migration and stopover ecology, and recently has expanded into flight calling behavior. She has also contributed to projects investigating the impacts of birds and bird migration on zoonotic diseases, the impacts of anthropogenic structures on birds (especially in migration), and the impact of climate change on bird migration in North America. Her work led to her election as and Elective Member and later a Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU), election to the Council of the Wilson Ornithological Society (WOS) and AOU, election as Secretary of the WOS and later the AOU, election to the presidential succession of the WOS, and most recently election to the presidential succession of the American Ornithological Society. She currently serves as the President of the American Ornithological Society. She began teaching at the Audubon Camp in 1990 and is thrilled to have the opportunity to return to Hog Island each year to share her love of birds, Hog Island, Muscongus Bay, and Black Guillemots with participants in camp programs. She also currently serves on the Board of the Friends of Hog Island because of her commitment to the mission and activities of the Hog Island Audubon Camp.