Joey Leibrecht

Research Assistant / AmeriCorps Intern - 2011-2012

Recently, Joey has made a swift transformation from a professional graphic artist of 10 years to a motivated avian field biologist.  In addition to his B.S. in Photography in 2000, he studied for a year in 2008 at the University of Connecticut and became involved with the UCONN Ornithology Research Group.  Joey has worked on a variety of bird projects including monitoring Cerulean warblers in Tennessee, UCONN urban ecology study of Monk Parakeets, cooperative breeding and ecology of Kalij Pheasant in Hawai’I Volcanoes National Park, winter bander internship at PRBO’s Palomarin Field Station in California, and The Institute for Bird Population’s Black-backed woodpecker telemetry project studying home range and foraging ecology in Lassen National Forest, CA.  Joey decided to continue his avian conservation direction by joining KFBRP in October 2011 as a research assistant in order to gain valuable experience working with federally endangered species.

Cody Hagen

Port Angeles, WA

Research Assistant / AmeriCorps Intern

Cody was born & raised in the foothills of the Olympic Mountains.  Spending a childhood almost entirely in the woods gave him a deep love and respect for the wild and natural world.  He has worked many different types of seasonal jobs from Trail Crew, Commercial Salmon Fishing and Crewing on Sailing Vessels.  His work with KFBRP is very rewarding, predominantly searching for 'Akikiki and 'Akeke’e in the Alaka'i.  When he’s not looking for birds he spends his free time surfing and traveling.

Rachel Perpignani

Boston, Massachusetts

Research Assistant

Rachel developed a passion for ornithology and field work on the coastal islands of Maine where she studied environmental science at College of the Atlantic.  Since then, Rachel has worked as a field biologist in the Chihuahuan Desert counting migrating birds and in Big Sur, CA assisting with the reintroduction of the California condor.  She returns for a second season with KFBRP focusing on territory mapping of the critically endangered Puaiohi.

Elisa Weiss

Research Assistant

Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Elisa exchanged cold wet winters for the warm downpour of the Hawaiian Islands.  She has lived on and off in Hawai'i since 2007, working in the forests and ocean around the islands of Kaua'i, Maui and the Big Island.  Her previous fieldwork includes assisting with toothed-whale and seabird surveys off the coast of Kona, working with the critically endangered California condor in Big Sur, working with the long-wattled umbrella bird in Ecuador and working as a Marine Mammal Observer in Monterey Bay.  While not searching for creatures that swim or fly, Elisa can be found climbing mountains, surfing and traveling; all the while, spreading the good word of conservation along the way.

Mitch Walters

Research Assistant

Despite growing up in Los Angeles, CA where nature takes a back seat to movies, skyscrapers, Ferraris and People Magazine, Mitch found his passion for birds and wildlife at a young age.  He proceeded to graduate from Cornell University in 2010 with a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a distinction in research.  Since then, he has worked as a field assistant in Australia studying Satin Bowerbirds and Splendid Fairy-Wrens.  Mitch now enters the conservation realm for the first time by being a seasonal for KFBRP, where his main task involves surveying for endangered 'Akikiki and 'Akeke’e.

Rebecca Wilcox

Research Assistant

Rebecca came to work with KFBRP in March of 2011 because of an interest in endangered bird research, invasive species and conservation land management.  She graduated with a degree in Forestry and Natural Resource from the University of California Berkeley.  Other island research projects include:  looking at the effects of introduced predators on seabird population in French Polynesia and the effects of predator control on the Little Blue Penguin nesting success in New Zealand.

Anna Yoke

Research Assistant

Anna joined KFBRP as a seasonal staff in March 2011.  She graduated from the College of William and Mary with a BS in Biology.  Anna has participated in several wildlife biology projects including:  working with loons on the North Slope of Alaska, Satin Bowerbirds in Australia, White-Tailed deer in Louisiana and Swainson’s Warblers in North Carolina.

Tessa Behnke

Research Assistant

Tessa is from the wine country of Northern California. She is currently a student at Colorado State University- Fort Collins, pursuing an undergraduate degree in Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology. She is an active member of the student chapters for The Society for Conservation Biology and The Wildlife Society.  As well, Tessa is a captain with the Hells Belles, the CSU Ultimate “Frisbee” team. This summer she is working with KFBRP on Puaiohi and forest habitat research.