The WHSRN Team

Charles Duncan
Executive Director, WHSRN Executive Office
Director, Shorebird Recovery Project

Dr. Charles Duncan directs the Executive Office of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network, a coalition of 88 sites in 13 nations. Recently he accepted additional responsibilities as Director of Shorebird Recovery Project, an ambitious hemispheric-scale program of the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences.

Prior to joining Manomet in 2003, he worked for The Nature Conservancy’s Migratory Bird Program after a long career in academia at the University of Maine at Machias [USA], where he founded and ran the Institute for Field Ornithology. From 1998-2000, he was President of the Association of Field Ornithologists. In 2002, the American Birding Association honored him with their “Chandler Robbins Award for Education and Conservation.” Charles has a B.A. from Rice University (chemistry), a PhD from Yale University (organic chemistry), and held a postdoctoral fellowship in theoretical organic chemistry at the University of Virginia. He lives in Portland, Maine [USA], with his wife, Laura Blutstein, a physician specializing in family medicine.

Meredith Gutowski Morehouse
Conservation Specialist

Meredith Gutowski's primary areas of responsibility include Species Conservation Plans, the WHSRN Site Assessment Tool, species- and site-based conservation mapping tools, and both Web- and print-based outreach and communication, including WHSRNews. Prior to joining Manomet in June 2007, Meredith was a Wildlife Biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Division of Bird Habitat Conservation from 1998 - 2007 in Arlington, Virginia [USA]. She was a coordinator and grants administrator for the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) Grants Program for Mexico and, in later years, became the Communications Coordinator for all of the Division’s international migratory bird conservation programs.

Meredith is proficient in Spanish, has a Bachelor of Science in International Environmental Studies from Rutgers University’s Douglass College, and a Master of Environmental Management in Resource Ecology (Conservation Biology track) from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. Her love of birds, nature, and other cultures has led her either as a student or volunteer to unique corners of Australia and New Zealand, northern South America, and Southeast Asia–with one brief but “birdable” (and memorable) layover in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In August 2012, she and her husband moved to Casco, Maine [USA], where she works via home office.

Diego Luna Quevedo
Southern Cone Representative, WHSRN Executive Office

Diego Luna joined the Shorebird Recovery Project (SRP) team in 2009, and has responsibilities for SRP’s strategic functions in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, and southern Brazil. His work include building collaborative relationships among our partners and key stakeholders for the conservation of shorebirds in this important region, particularly among WHSRN sites. He leads in the design and implementation of strategies and action plans of our “3-S” approach of Site-based Conservation, building the Science foundation, and explicit Success measures, as well as raising public awareness. His office is in Santiago, Chile.

Diego was born in Uruguay, and has been based in Chile since 1998. For the past 10 years, he has dedicated himself to numerous conservation projects through consulting and research. He has extensive experience in directing regional initiatives across Latin America, as well as with natural resources management and reduction of socio-environmental conflicts. Diego’s previous positions reflect these interests. He has served as the Executive Director of the Corporation for Wetland Environments of Chile, been a member of the Latin American Future Foundation’s Program for the Prevention and Management of Socio-environmental Conflicts; and the creator and advisor of the Program for the Sustainable Use of Wetlands for the National Petroleum Company of Chile. In this last role, he led in the designation of Bahia Lomas, Tierra del Fuego, as the first WHSRN Site in Chile.

Lisa Schibley
Database Specialist and Technical Assistant

Lisa joined the WHSRN team in 2008, and is responsible for a number of technical tasks in support of its scientists. She maintains the WHSRN website and database, undertakes mapping projects, runs research reports for WHSRN partners, and develops methods to use data in the strategies and action plans that WHSRN implements. Her background is in numerical analysis with a Master's in Physics from the University of Arizona.

 

With gratitude, we would like to recognize our talented and dedicated volunteers and interns:

Dodie Frank (volunteer, 2008 - 2010)
Megan Maloney (intern, Fall 2009)
Terri Fish (intern, Fall 2009)
Ethan Bogdan (volunteer, Summer 2010)
Noemi Moreno (volunteer, Winters 2011 & 2012)