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Cecilia M. Riley
Executive Director

A native Texan, biologist and avid bird watcher, Cecilia has committed her life's work to avian research and natural history in both North America and Latin America. Cecilia's educational background includes a B.S. in Ecology from the University of Texas at Arlington and a M.S. in Zoology from the University of Arkansas. Prior to her position at the GCBO, she spent 2 years as the state coordinator for Texas Partners in Flight and 8 years as a research associate of marine studies at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas.

Currently, Cecilia's professional efforts focus on the conservation issues associated with the protection of migratory songbirds and stopover habitat in the ecologically important Gulf of Mexico region.

 

Felipe Chavez
Director, Conservation Programs 

Felipe comes to us from the Crane Trust in Nebraska where he was the Executive Director for nine years. He has a Masters and PhD from Texas A&M University in Wildlife Ecology and still serves as an adjunct professor there. His research has focused on ecology and conservation issues of migratory birds including the Whooping Crane and Cuban Sandhill Crane. His other interests include ecological studies of migrating raptors and grassland birds in wintering areas, hummingbird resource partitioning on Caribbean Islands and wading bird habitat use and foraging ecology along the Gulf of Mexico states. At GCBO, Felipe will be working on program development and long range research priorities.

Carol Jones
Education Coordinator

Carol's primary responsibilities involve outreach programs to the community. This covers a fairly diverse spectrum of activities from Summer Bird Camp for youth to our Birds and Bottomland Blitz programs on Saturdays to working with businesses and corporations as they restore or create native habitats on their properties. She has been a birder and nature enthusiast all her adult life and has spent many hours participating in volunteer activities for habitat conservation and environmental awareness and monitoring. Carol has a BA in Zoology from the University of Texas at Austin. 

Susan Heath
Avian Conservation Biologist

Sue is a native Texan who returned to the state in 2007 after being transplanted to Virginia for 24 years. She received a master's in biology from George Mason University for her work on wintering waterfowl on the Northern Virginia Piedmont and a Ph.D. from the same institution in the spring of 2008.  Her dissertation involved the effects of pesticides on birds that nest in agriculture in the north central states.  She is thrilled to be back in her home state of Texas.  At GCBO, Sue coordinates the Site Partner Network and assists with various research efforts. Currently she is heading up a four-year study of American Oystercatchers on the Texas coast.

 

Jessica McGee
Office Manager

Jessica is a native Texan but only recently moved to Lake Jackson three years ago from Waxahachie. Jessica is also a student majoring in Early Education and Business Administration. She brings several years of experience in office management and a love of nature to GCBO. An avid reader and painter, Jessica also enjoys camping, fishing, hunting, running, hiking, and gardening. At GCBO Jessica is responsible for all accounting, record retention, reception, and general office management. 

 

Karen Cornelius
Development Associate

Karen Cornelius brings 25 years of fundraising experience and in-depth knowledge of conservation issues to GCBO. She received her B.A. degree in Sociology and Psychology from the University of California at Santa Cruz. Karen began her 12 year tenure at The Nature Conservancy by opening the Houston region office. In 1998 she became the Director of Development for the Texas state chapter and directed the "For Texas, Forever" five-year $60 million capital campaign for education centers, land acquisition, endowments, and international programs.  While in recent years she has focused upon major gifts, Karen is familiar with all aspects of fundraising and program development including membership, special events and communications.  She plans to facilitate the growth of GCBO's fundraising program. A love of the outdoors has been a lifelong passion revealed through her interests: hiking, camping, photography and gardening.  She began birding at Mad Island Marsh and Matagorda Island on the Gulf Coast.

John Arvin
Research Fellow

John Arvin has been studying the birds of South Texas since childhood. He had a 25 year career leading birding tours throughout the Western Hemisphere with a heavy emphasis on Latin America where he has traveled through most of the countries studying birds. Since 1996 he has spent four to six months each year working as a seasonal naturalist in Manu National Park and Biosphere Reserve in Peru. Recently he worked for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department as an avian biologist in the Lower Rio Grande Valley before joining the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory in early 2005 serving as Research Coordinator. While at GCBO, John headed up various research projects including the Smith Point Hawkwatch, the Texas Ivory-billed Woodpecker Survey, and our year-long Sand Plover survey. John retired from GCBO in December 2010 but will remain as a research fellow assisting us when we need his special talents.