Who are the people behind FeederWatch? Participants across North America are at the core of Project FeederWatch. But besides the army of citizen scientists collecting information on birds at their feeders, several people in the United States and Canada are responsible for archiving and analyzing the data, and the day-to-day operation of the project. Project FeederWatch is administered in the United States by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (CLO) and in Canada by Bird Studies Canada (BSC).

Project Leader, U.S.

Since 2002 project leader David Bonter has been overseeing Project FeederWatch, analyzing data, and writing reports and scientific journal articles.

Project FeederWatch's U. S. team, from left to right, Anne Marie Johnson, David Bonter, and Susan E. Newman (photo by Scott Haber).

Project Assistants, U.S.

Anne Marie Johnson and Susan Newman do a great job of keeping FeederWatch running smoothly. Both write and edit printed materials and web pages; answer email, phone calls, and letters; and much more. In addition, Anne Marie makes sure that Research Kits and other materials are designed, printed, inventoried, and mailed out while Susan focuses on data processing and social networking.

Project Leader, Canada

Kerrie Wilcox took over Project FeederWatch at Bird Studies Canada in the fall of 2005. She supervises all aspects of the project in Canada and writes FeederWatch reports.

Project Assistants, Canada

Rosie Kirton and Kris Dobney provide participant support. They mail out FeederWatch kits, inventory materials, answer calls about membership and more. They help keep FeederWatch running smoothly.

In April of 2003, the Project FeederWatch staffs from CLO and BSC met at BSC Headquarters in Port Rowan, Ontario; from left to right: Ron Rohrbaugh, Anne Marie Johnson, Laura Thomson, Wes Hochachka, David Bonter, Denis Lepage, Rosie Kirton, and Becky Whittam.

Volunteers, U.S.

In addition to relying on work study students and seasonal temporary staff, the successful operation of FeederWatch, particularly the processing of data forms, is absolutely dependent upon the generous help of volunteers. Larry and Susan P. Newman (pictured at left below, from left to right) help us process data and correspondence that comes through the mail, among many other things. Historically Ruth Davis and Shirley McAneny (pictured at right below, from left to right) have been our data processing experts. Sadly we lost Ruth in 2007, and she is deeply missed. Now Shirley carries on the tradition, opening all the paper data booklets and reviewing all the comment and extras that are sent along with the data. We are deeply indebted to the service all the volunteers provide.

Additional staff support

The scientific and educational aspects of FeederWatch are overseen in the U.S. by the director of Citizen Science, Janis Dickinson.

We are grateful to Wesley Hochachka for the tremendous scientific support he provides.

The online data entry was created by Birdsource staff, and the web pages and FeederWatch database are managed and maintained by Lab of Ornithology programmers.

The colorful and informative materials you see may have been written by the project staff, but the communications staff at the Lab of Ornithology often edit and design the materials before they hit the press. They also distribute press releases, produce videos seen on the web site, and help to promote the project.

All things must start somewhere, and your participation in FeederWatch usually starts at the membership office. The membership personnel in both countries enter your name into the database and ensure that your kits are sent to you after you sign up.

FeederWatch is truly a team effort. Many thanks to those who are involved every step of the way!