The Whooping Crane Birding in Port A Sponsors 2025 Festival
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Festival Speakers And Guides

Meet the Experts

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Michael Forsberg

I've spent the last five years camera-in-hand exploring the natural history of whooping cranes across the continent, meeting people who love them, and…

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Michael Forsberg

Rose Elizondo

Rose grew up in South Texas and studied elementary education at UT Austin. Rose’s family has centuries old connections to the south Texas coastal bend where the Whooping Cranes migrate to each year. Rose fell in love with whopping cranes on a 6 th  grade field trip to the Aransas Wildlife…

Rose Elizondo

Matti Bradshaw

Matti Bradshaw works for the International Crane Foundation in the Texas office as the Leiden Conservation Whooping Crane Biologist. She started in January 2023, and has since been conducting research on Whooping Cranes in the Aransas-Wood Buffalo Population. Her role primarily focuses on research…

Matti Bradshaw

Stephanie Schmidt

Stephanie Schmidt is the Lead Outreach Biologist for the International Crane Foundation and works with the eastern population of Whooping Cranes. Stephanie grew up in southeastern Wisconsin, a region that is known for its many Sandhill Cranes, and this ignited her early love for birds, wetlands, and…

Stephanie Schmidt

Carter Crouch and Kevin McAbee

Dr. Carter Crouch is the Director of the Gulf Coast Programs for the International Crane Foundation. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Zoology from the University of Oklahoma in 2011. He completed a Master's in Range and Wildlife Management and a Ph.D. in Wildlife Science from Texas A&M…

A man in a gray jacket holds a large crane in his arms.

Wildlife Revealed

Wildlife Revealed is a 501-c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the education and preservation of our planet’s wildlife. Our presentations have been seen at schools, theme parks, renaissance festivals, birthday parties and other special events.

Wildlife Revealed

Robin Doughty

Robin Doughty, a Yorkshire-born bio-geographer, who received his PhD from University of California at Berkeley and was a faculty member with the University of Texas for more than 40 years. Robin has a longstanding professional and personal interest in wild animals, notably birds, and has authored or…

Robin Doughty

Tiffany Kersten

Tiffany Kersten is a Wisconsin native. She holds a B.S. in Wildlife Ecology from Northland College and has spent over a decade as an environmental educator, teaching about bird migration with the Cape May Bird Observatory, monitoring shorebirds on Cape Cod, banding Honeycreepers in Hawaii, and…

Tiffany Kersten

Michael Forsberg

I've spent the last five years camera-in-hand exploring the natural history of whooping cranes across the continent, meeting people who love them, and discovering how these tall, magnificent, and rarest cranes are navigating our 21st-century world. In this multimedia presentation, I'll take…

Michael Forsberg

Jennifer Warner

Jennifer Leigh Warner is an award winning wildlife, landscape and conservation photographer living in Central Texas and specializes in creating meaningful images that conveys a message of hope for the natural world.

A woman with long dark hair poses with a large camera in front of a natural background. She is wearing a black jacket and jeans.

Chris Corpus

Chris Corpus oversees the Dallas Zoo’s strategy for conservation, with a particular focus on supporting community-based conservation efforts. He serves on the board of VETPAW, an organization working to reduce wildlife trafficking and poaching. Chris is also a member of the Texas Crane Council…

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Ruth Hoyt

Ruth Hoyt is a full-time professional nature photographer, writer, public speaker, workshop leader, coach, and consultant with more than 30 years' experience teaching nature photography. She enthusiastically works with photographers from all skill levels and walks of life, including youths from…

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Dr. Dale Gawlik

Dr. Dale Gawlik, Endowed Chair for Conservation and Biodiversity, Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Dr. Gawlik is the Endowed Chair for Conservation and Biodiversity at the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M Corpus Christi and a…

A man in a blue button up shirt smiles at the camera. He wears binoculars around his neck.

Sara Zimorski

Sara grew up and went to school in Charlottesville, Virginia, studying biology at the University of Virginia.  She never laid eyes on a crane, or at least doesn’t remember seeing or hearing anything about them until she moved to Wisconsin to work at the International Crane…

whooping-crane-festival-port-aransas-texas-speakers-sara-zimorski

Kathy Adams Clark

Kathy Adams Clark has been a professional nature photographer since 1995. Kathy’s photos have been published in hundreds of places including  Family Fun,, Nature's Best, New York Times, Birder's World,  and  Ranger Rick.    AAA Journey,   Texas Parks…

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Dr. George Archibald

In 1973, when cranes were in a perilous situation and many were on the brink of extinction, George Archibald, along with fellow graduate student Ron Sauey, established the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin as the world center for the study and preservation of cranes. His…

Photograph of a smiling older man in a blue button up