Staff & Trustees
Executive Director
Deana Cavan
Volunteer Coordinator
Adam Dinuovo
Officers
President:
Scott Weidensaul
Vice President:
James Li, M.D.
Treasurer:
Kenny Totilo
Secretary:
Lena Gallitano
Biographies
Deana Cavan, Executive Director
Adam Dinuovo, Volunteer Coordinator
Adam DiNuovo has been the FOHI Volunteer Coordinator since November 2021. Prior to his role with FOHI, Adam worked with seabirds and shorebirds for over 20 years and is a master bird bander. Projects include American Oystercatchers in South Carolina, Piping Plovers in the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Reseach Coordinator for the California Least Tern/Western Snowy Plover Project at the Institute for Conservation Research in California and Shorebird Program Manager for Audubon Florida. Adam also became an instructor at the Hog Island Audubon Camp in 2012 while working for Project Puffin and came back every year as an instructor until 2021. Aside from his current work with FOHI, he has an ongoing banding project looking at movement and survival of Black Skimmers in SW Florida.
Scott Weidensaul, Board President
Scott Weidensaul is the author of more than two dozen books on natural history, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist Living on the Wind and the New York Times bestseller A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds. Scott is a contributing editor for Audubon magazine and writes for a variety of other publications, including Living Bird. He is a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society and an active field researcher, studying saw-whet owl migration for more than two decades, as well as winter hummingbirds, bird migration in Alaska, and the winter movements of snowy owls through Project SNOWstorm, which he co-founded. He has been an instructor and camp director at Hog Island for more than 20 years. A native of Pennsylvania, he and his wife Amy now live in New Hampshire.
James Li, M.D., Vice President
James, his wife Kim, and their flock of ducks live off the grid on one of the handful of Maine island sites that are protected by Audubon conservation easements. Both are amateur yet avid birders and frequent Hog Island by kayak and lobster boat. James first became aware of environmentalism when he started first grade at the John James Audubon public school in Washington. As he grew older, he spent his free time hiking and guiding in wilderness areas throughout the Pacific Northwest. Before realizing that college might prove a useful endeavor, he spent a year bicycling around the US, an experience that made him an optimist. He brings experience as a long-term board member and officer for other non-profit organizations. Formerly an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, he now practices emergency medicine in the MaineHealth system and serves as the health officer for the town of Friendship
Kenny Totilo, Treasurer
Kenny grew up in Connecticut, migrated to New York City for his professional career as a CPA and then, after raising two sons there, empty nested to Cape Cod where he and his wife enjoy nature and particularly birdwatching. He was a volunteer fireman as part of his youthful spare time and moves towards volunteerism again on the forefront of the twilight of his career. He has roles as both an officer and board member for other private and public non-profit charities whose principal goals include nature conservatism and support for inner city homelessness.
Lena Gallitano, Secretary
Lena grew up in Chapel Hill, NC, attended UNC-Greensboro and later returned to NC State University for a Master of Horticultural Science. Now retired, she devotes much of her time to organizations related to birds, birding, and the environment. Lena has served on the boards of NC Beautiful, Carolina Bird Club, Wake Audubon Society and Audubon NC. She volunteered to coordinate the fledgling North Carolina Birding Trail and was recognized for her contribution by the NC Wildlife Federation with the 2005 Governor’s Award for Wildlife Volunteer of the Year. The National Audubon Society recognized her for mission support to “protect birds, other wildlife, and their habitat” in the Atlantic Flyway with the 2013 William Dutcher Award.
Lena’s current projects include Wake Audubon’s Lights Out Wake initiative, Wings Over Water Wildlife Festival at the Outer Banks, and the Beach Bird Stewards of Emerald isle, a volunteer group working with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission to protect Least Tern and Wilson’s Plover nesting habitat.
Over the years, Lena has returned to Hog Island as both a camper and a volunteer building lasting memories. Hog Island has a special place in her heart particularly when walking the Island trails remembering giants, both past and present, whose footsteps preceded hers.
Juanita Roushdy, Founding President
Juanita is a full-time resident of Bremen, Maine, and lives just up the road from Hog Island. She was on the board of Audubon North Carolina and founded and was president of the Cape Fear Audubon Society in Wilmington, NC. During her professional career she was Senior Editor and later Director of Community Relations at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. She’s an active volunteer in the community and on a number of boards, an avid birder and conservationist, a former Hog Island camper, and after over a decade leading FOHI, is now a committed desperado volunteer.
Tony Ferrara
Tony was first introduced to Hog Island via the Osprey cam operated by Explore.org. Intrigued by the prospect of a camp run by Audubon, he visited Hog Island as a camper in 2016 and again in 2017, attending Raptor Rapture and Field Ornithology sessions. He met Juanita Roushdy on Hog Island and became a supporter of Friends of Hog Island.
Tony was a volunteer beach steward on Marco Island, Florida, for many years, and served as the volunteer coordinator for that program. The beach stewards keep the beach clean, protect birds and other wildlife, and engage with tourists and residents to make the beach a safe and enjoyable place for everyone. Tony also served on the Beach Advisory Committee for the City of Marco Island.
At the end of 2017, Tony was preparing to retire from his career as a web and database professional, when he found out that FOHI would be hiring a volunteer coordinator for the following season. He applied immediately and served in the Volunteer Coordinator position from 2018 until 2021. He and his wife Cheryl now live in Bremen.
Tony is an avid birder and also enjoys photography, making music, hiking, cycling and skiing. He serves as a “Desperado,” when FOHI needs extra help or someone to staff a special event on the island.
Rebecca Gilman
Rebecca Gilman is a playwright who fell in love with Hog Island as a camper, and was honored and delighted to be the island’s first Artist-in-Residence. During her residency, she wrote A Woman of the World, a one-woman play that tells the story of Mabel Loomis Todd. Todd is best-known as Emily Dickinson’s first editor, but to birders she’ll always be revered as the woman who bought and restored Hog Island before donating it to the Audubon Society. A Woman of the World, starring Kathleen Chalfant, received its off-Broadway premiere in 2019 and is available on Audible.
Rebecca recently retired from her position as Professor of dramatic writing at Northwestern University. While living in Chicago, she served on the Board of Directors of the ACLU of Illinois, Eclipse Theatre, Next Theatre, and Chicago Dramatists. She has also been a member of the fundraising committee for The Night Ministry in Chicago, which provides free health care and shelter to those suffering from homelessness.
Currently, Rebecca serves on the Council of the Dramatists Guild of America and the Executive Board of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology. In addition, Rebecca volunteers regularly for several conservation organizations in Wisconsin, including The Prairie Enthusiasts, The Driftless Area Land Conservancy, the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas II, the Great Wisconsin Birdathon, Madison Audubon Society, and the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin. She is a Wisconsin Master Naturalist and an avid birder.
Jess Golumbeski
A retired emergency, and critical care veterinarian, Jess has become an advocate of Puffin conservation. George Golumbeski (BFF and spouse) took her to Hog Island in August 2019. There she met Juanita Roushdy, who inspired her with the history of Hog Island, and Steve Kress. Steve mesmerized her with his odyssey of Puffin restoration on Eastern Egg Rock. He gifted her a signed copy of Project Puffin. An avid reader, Jess consumed it, fell in love with the science and story behind Project Puffin, and the book immediately became her favorite to share with as many people as possible. With gratitude to Don Lyons and Tiffany Huenefeldt, in July 2021, Jess spent a treasured week on Eastern Egg Rock with her eldest son, Andre. Awed by the dedication, perseverance, and passion of the hosting and next generation of researchers, Kay Garlick-Ott, Emily Sandly, and Jasmine Eason inspire Jess. They represent hope for the future of Puffin preservation. Jess is honored to serve with FOHI, as a cog in the wheel of Puffin conservation and to see the science and the story continue.
Anthony Hill
Anthony came to Hog Island in 1995 as a Field Ornithology camper, where he saw a banding demonstration by Sara Morris and heard a talk about Project Puffin by Steve Kress. As a result of that introduction, he became fascinated with both songbird banding and the Seabird Restoration Project (Project Puffin) and immersed himself in both activities. Anthony volunteered for part of 20 summers with Project Puffin on Eastern Egg Rock, Stratton Island, Matinicus Rock and Seal Island (his favorite).
In August 1995, Anthony attended a week-long introduction to bird banding at Dr. Morris’ banding station on Appledore Island and has been a regular Spring and Fall volunteer at that station since that first visit. He now holds a Master Bander permit with endorsement for hummingbirds and is certified as a bander Trainer for Passerines and Hummingbirds by the North American Banding Council (NABC). His personal banding research has focuses on wintering hummingbirds in New England and breeding American Kestrels in the Connecticut Valley of Massachusetts where he lives. He is on the board of the Friends of Hog Island and the Kestrel Land Trust, and enjoys being a regular construction volunteer and supervisor with Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity.
Anthony retired from a career in medical microbiology in 2010 and has been a Hog Island instructor for 8 years. He served as a Navy Hospital Corpsman with the Marines in Vietnam from 1968-1970.
Steve Kress
Steve is the founder of National Audubon Society’s Project Puffin and a Visiting Fellow of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. He previously served as Vice-President for Bird Conservation for the National Audubon Society and Director of the Hog Island Audubon Camp. His career focus is development of techniques for managing colonial nesting seabirds. Hundreds of professional seabird biologists can trace their first interest in seabirds to internships with Project Puffin and many innovative seabird conservation methods that he developed in Maine are now standard practice worldwide. Dr. Kress received his Ph.D. from Cornell University and his Master’s and undergraduate degrees from Ohio State University. He is co-author with Derrick Z. Jackson of Project Puffin: The Improbable Quest to Bring a Beloved Seabird back to Egg Rock and The Puffin Plan. He is also author of many books on bird watching, gardening for birds and online courses about birds as well as science papers about seabirds and conservation.
Sara Morris
Sara Morris began teaching ornithology at the Audubon Camp in Maine in 1990 when she was a graduate student at Cornell University. That summer she fell in love with the island and Muscongus Bay, and she continues to arrange her schedule around teaching ornithology on Hog Island each summer. Some of her fondest memories are sharing the island and the camp with her daughter each summer during her childhood.
Sara is currently the Vice President for Academic Affairs and a Professor of Biology at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY. As an ornithologist, she has spent decades studying bird migration, running the Appledore Island Migration Station, and mentoring undergraduate students in research. Her research projects include stopover ecology, changes in migration timing, flight calling behavior, connections between bird migration and zoonotic diseases, and impacts of man-made structures on birds. She is a past president of the Wilson Ornithological Society, a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society, and the President-Elect of the American Ornithological Society. She is pleased to be part of FOHI to ensure that the Hog Island magic continues to be available to encourage a love of birds and a conservation ethos.
Laurie Bragg, ex officio
Laurie is the newly appointed Director of the Seabird Institute. She is a originally from Maine, but during a trip to Panama, Laurie met a fellow birder from Michigan who spoke passionately about her adventures on Hog Island. Her enthusiasm and encouragement inspired Laurie to make a change. With over 20 years of experience working for nonprofit organizations, Laurie has a unique combination of leadership, strategic program development, and passion for environmental education. Previously, she served as Workforce and Diversity Program Manager at the University of Maine’s EPSCoR program, coordinating statewide STEM outreach, managing grants, and cultivating community partnerships. Her expertise in building collaborative relationships, developing impactful programs, and achieving nonprofit growth aligns perfectly with her enthusiasm for Audubon’s Seabird Institute’s conservation mission. In her free time she is often found with her dog, and a camera, out on a trail.
Don Lyons, ex officio
Don Lyons joined Audubon in 2018 and is now Director of Conservation Science. He leads seabird research and stewardship efforts at Audubon’s seven seabird nesting islands in Maine as well as contributing to conservation and research projects elsewhere. He has worked on seabird ecology and conservation for over 20 years from the North Atlantic in Maine to the South Pacific in Indonesia. His current efforts include expanding the use of seabird diet and reproductive performance to inform fisheries management, assessing the impacts of our warming climate on marine ecosystems, and the restoration of vulnerable tern and alcid populations.
Don also serves as an instructor at the Hog Island Audubon Camp and Oregon State University where he holds an Assistant Professor (Research) appointment in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. He has taught courses on seabird ecology and conservation, physiology of marine megaphauna, and natural resource management, and regularly advises graduate students. He spends summers in Maine working with the seabird island sanctuaries.
