Martin Hagne

Executive Director

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Martin Hagne was born and raised on the Swedish west coast, where his grandfather instilled a love for nature at an early age. He moved to the United States, and the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, in 1979 and turned his focus towards wildlife viewing and conservation concerns.
Martin served as the Executive Director of the Valley Nature Center in Weslaco, Texas, and environmental education facility, for 13 years. He then moved to Bandera, Texas where he led the Flying L Resort and Conference Center. He has also worked as a Field Biologist doing baseline studies for many years, including avian, herp, mammal, T&E, and habitat studies.
He enjoys leading birding field trips in the US and Mexico and has served on several state, regional and local environmental appointments, committees, and boards. Birding, nature viewing, native plants, conservation issues and environmental education are his great passions.

mhagne@gcbo.org

Rebecca Bracken

Conservation Research Director

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Rebecca was born and grew up in central Texas. She received a Master’s in Biology from Texas State University and a Ph.D. in Forest Resources with a Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture concentration from Mississippi State University. Her dissertation focused on evaluating the influence of forest management activities on breeding and wintering avian communities and investigated how forest age and management affected nightjar abundance. Between her master’s and Ph.D., she worked on several field projects ranging from songbirds in New Hampshire, Louisiana, and Australia to shorebirds and wading birds in Wyoming and Oklahoma. She is happy to be back in Texas and working on the Gulf Coast again. Rebecca is now working to further GCBO research projects including the American Oystercatcher Study, Beach Nesting Birds, Non-breeding shorebirds, and the Smith Point Hawk Watch.

rbracken@gcbo.org

Tricia Patton

Office Manager

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Tricia brings a wealth of office management experience with her from both the corporate and non-profit sector. As Office Manager, Tricia takes care of all our accounting and administrative tasks and keeps the office and organization running smoothly. She handles all recordkeeping of donations, memberships, and grants, and handle all income and outgoing expenses. Her position is in many ways the backbone of the organization. Her enthusiasm and energy keep us all going!

tpatton@gcbo.org

Celeste Silling

Education & Outreach Director

Celeste was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She attended Lawrence University in Wisconsin and received her Bachelor’s degree in Biology in 2016. Focusing on her passions of conservation and education, she has had a variety of research and education jobs. Working with birds and doing education and outreach were always her favorite parts of these jobs. Now she is pursuing her interests at GCBO.

csilling@gcbo.org

Taylor Bennett

Coastal Biologist

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Taylor grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia but moved to Humble, Texas in 2015. Her Bachelor of Science in Biology (focus on Marine Biology) is from Old Dominion University. For six years, she interned for organizations such as the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and non-profit organizations like Audubon Texas. Her main focus has been conservation, especially for endangered and threatened species. Most of her internships also involved surveying birds. She liked working with shorebirds the most, especially with plovers and oystercatchers. At GCBO, she is currently working on our Nonbreeding Shorebirds and Beach Nesting Birds projects.

tbennett@gcbo.org

Susan Heath

RESEARCH ASSOCIATE

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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, she coordinates all conservation research including American Oystercatcher Stewardship, Beach Nesting Birds, Non-breeding shorebirds, Motus Tower Network, Eastern Willet Migration, and the Smith Point Hawk Watch.

sheath@gcbo.org