Meet The Team

Kristi Dranginis is the founder of Bird Mentor, a resource for live and online courses helping people worldwide build confidence learning about birds and the natural world. Through her courses, students are immersed in the principles of intuitive birding, deep nature connection, bird language, and her innovative model for advanced bird identification.

In addition to her online courses she teaches birding at traditional skills events like Rabbit Stick, Winter Count, Saskatoon Circle, Buckeye, Sharpening Stone and for amazing organizations like the Boulder Outdoor Survival School, The Women’s Wilderness Institute, Crow Canyon Archeological Center, The Vermont Wilderness School, Flanders Nature Center, Eight Shields and The Powerhouse Science Center.

During a real bird nerd phase, she helped to band birds on Great Gull Island, focusing on the Roseate & Common Terns, as well as migratory birds at Oxbow Preserve and hummingbirds at Mesa Verde National Park.

In addition to geeking out about birds, she’s also a Naturalist, Herbalist, and Photographer and has contributed to the new Peterson’s Field Guide to Bird Nests and ABA’s Birder’s Guide.

Hey there! My name is Treven Hooker (He/Him/El) I have dedicated my life to learning about and bonding with the wild spaces around me, and I am incredibly fortunate that those wild spaces include the Sonoran Desert in Southern Arizona.

I am an outdoor and environmental educator for the Arizona Trail Association. I do this work because I am deeply passionate about helping others develop deep and meaningful relationships with wild spaces, both internally and externally.

I believe playfulness is key to learning and bonding, and so playfulness is often my favorite learning style, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

I have worked with Kristi through her courses for over two years, and I am very excited to support bird lovers and nature geeks taking her courses.

My favorite birds to see right now are mysterious owls hiding in the dark, and sleeping cactus wrens tucked away in their nests for the night. 

Hi, I’m Patty Cheek. I’ve always loved the outdoors since I was a little girl. However, I didn’t become a bird nerd until I moved to Whidbey Island 13 years ago and then, retired from nursing in 2018.

I have been a music teacher and an oncology nurse as well as a volunteer for the Red Cross.

I am actively working as president of Whidbey Audubon Society and have been during the difficult COVID 19 crisis. I will continue in that capacity for at least one more year.

I became a volunteer marine naturalist several years ago and have worked actively in the Langley Whale Center for several years.

There is just not enough time to do all the things I love like sailing, reading, hiking, and cooking and, of course, birding.

I attended Kristi’s For the Love of Birds Festival earlier this year and I became completely hooked into taking the Learning Bird Song course and Earnest Rascals after that.

I’m deeply honored to be a TA for a new group of trainees.  I am doing the Advanced Skills with Kristi and enjoy her encouragement and the tools she is teaching me.

My abilities in birding have increased enormously in the past year and I am always curious to learn more.

Hey there! My name is Peri Sasnett. I am a multimedia science communicator who works mainly for the National Park Service, creating videos, articles, and programs to share scientific stories with the public.

Recent locations have included Grand Teton and Glacier, and I’m currently in Joshua Tree.

I’m relatively new to birding, first tagging along with birder friends in 2019 and then starting to learn independently in 2020, when I signed up for Kristi’s class. 

Elizabeth (she/her) has long been interested in birds.

Growing up in Michigan she loved seeing the bright and cheery cardinals and watching the sparrows and finches come to her mother’s bird feeder.

In her post-college move to California she learned how necessary her connection to nature was to her well-being.

Moving to a new landscape was disorienting; but learning the new birds, plants, and seasonal rhythms, helped her settle into her new home. 

After Elizabeth’s daughter was born, she spent time facilitating children’s nature connections, including time with a small nature school

Now Elizabeth lives on a rural island in Japan with her partner, daughter, cat and nine chickens!  

In the spring of 2021 she participated as a student in in Learning Bird Song course. She continues her bird studies with Kristi’s Master Course.

She is thrilled to be here as a TA, reveling in the joy that is bird song. 

Danielle Belleny is a wildlife biologist, science communicator, and avid birder from San Antonio, Texas.

Her favorite part about her job is being able to share her knowledge of nature with others.

She is a member of the BlackAFinSTEM Collective, an organization focused on sharing the stories of Black scientists and nature enthusiasts.

Danielle is also a co-founder of #BlackBirdersWeek, a movement created by the BlackAFinSTEM Collective which celebrates Black experiences in outdoor recreation.

My name is Suzanne. I am a lifelong native of Brooklyn, New York who has been fortunate to spend many years of summers in the country in Ct.

As a former nurse and patient advocate, I have always been aware of our bodies and our spirit’s need to experience nature no matter where we are.

Bryan Calk started birding in his backyard in south Texas when he was 10 and has never stopped. He was fortunate enough to be helped in his early years by two, strongly encouraging mentors. Those mentors—and the people he has met through birding—continue to be his “best birds” of all.

Currently residing in Albuquerque as a professional birding and nature tour guide, Bryan loves to explore the Southwest with his binoculars and camera in tow.

He enjoys sharing his knowledge and birdfinding with others and has led field trips previously for Birding with Texas A&M Agrilife Extension, Naturalist Journeys, NatureScape Tours, BRANT, Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival, Festival of the Cranes, and for numerous Ornithological and Audubon Societies.

Thanks to his partnership with Birding with Extension, Bryan has been able to pursue his greatest passion: leading and educating young birders. His summer program Rio Diablo Birding Camp takes high school students across the Transpecos region of Texas to not only look for birds, but also learn about ecology, history, and culture.   

Bryan’s “spark bird” was the incomparable Painted Bunting, and his favorite bird is the Common Pauraque. In his free time, Bryan enjoys cooking, gardening, art, and searching for and photographing not only birds, but butterflies, reptiles, mammals, and more.