Lisa Kutschbach Brohl
Lisa Brohl lives on South Bass Island in the western end of Lake Erie with her husband Russ. She holds a bachelor’s degree in natural resources management and a master’s degree in environmental studies. She is chair of the Lake Erie Islands Conservancy and a founding board member of the Lake Erie Islands Nature and Wildlife Center and the Put-in-Bay Township Park District. Lisa has been involved with Road Scholar as an instructor or Group Leader since 2000.
Paula Bartlett
Paula Bartlett earned her bachelor's in sociology and psychology from Heidelberg College and master's in rehabilitation counseling from Bowling Green State University, which prepared her for a career in working with people with disabilities. Retired since 2010, she has picked back up on a search for bird species with her husband, Tom, that began before their daughter's birth over 35 years ago; they are up to 635 species. Paula volunteers with local parks and the library, and writes, reads, gardens, hikes and does yoga.
Valerie Nose Chornyak
Valerie was born on Put-in-Bay, Ohio and spent most of her life in Columbus before returning to her home town. She taught jazzercise for almost 25 years and is now very active in her community in many ways including teaching and volunteering at the Senior Center, Nature and Wildlife Center and the Historical Society. When she has a spare moment, Val enjoys an active life of tennis, walking, golf and the OWLS book club. She has three children and seven grandchildren and loves sunsets.
Tammy Martin
Tammy Martin, now of Napoleon, Ohio, retired from Oberlin College where she worked as a library cataloger. She earned her BS and MS in environmental interpretation from The Ohio State University. During college, Tammy worked as a seasonal naturalist on the Blue Ridge Parkway for the National Park Service. She returned to academia for employment in the library field, during which time she and husband, Dan, raised twins. After their graduation, Tammy found time to revive her interest in birding and hasn’t looked back.
Shane Roberts
Shane Roberts was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and settled in Perrysburg, Ohio, in 2002. A young age, Shane has had a keen interest in wildlife, especially birds. Since 2002, he has been one of Tom Bartlett’s bird banding assistants. Shane and his wife are members of Kelleys Island Audubon Club, Black Swamp Bird Observatory, and Friends of Magee Marsh. He has served in several positions with the Friends of Magee Marsh and volunteers for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife.
Morgan Drabik-Hamshare
Dr. Morgan Drabik-Hamshare (Pfeiffer) joined the Ohio Field Station of the USDA APHIS WS National Wildlife Research Center in 2016. She obtained her doctorate and master's from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Her research interests include avian species plasticity, movements and behavior in anthropogenic landscapes. She applies these interests to understanding and preventing wildlife collisions with aircraft. Her current research involves evaluating unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) technology for wildlife hazard management. Morgan is an avid birder; her world life list is at 854 species.
Emily Beal
Emily Beal is in her second year with Road Scholar. She is originally from Hinckley, Ohio but has spent much of her life on the Lake Erie islands. Emily graduated in 2023 with a degree in wildlife and fisheries resources. Her roles at the Nature & Wildlife Center include Road Scholar coordinator, nature camp coordinator, and assistant director. In her free time, she enjoys swimming, kayaking, and hiking.
Laura Roberts
Laura Roberts has had an interest in watching birds and other wildlife from a young age, inspired by her mother and frequent visits to Crane Creek State Park (Magee Marsh Wildlife Area). Since meeting and marrying her second husband, Laura’s passion grew, as she and Shane have shared birding and genealogy for over twenty years. Laura has been leading bird watching groups with Shane for many years, more recently for the Road Scholar program while on vacation from her regular work at FedEx Ground.
Diana Steele
Diana Steele is an avid birder and science writer living in Lorain County, Ohio. She has conducted breeding bird surveys, volunteered as a bird banding assistant, and led field trips for The Biggest Week in American Birding and Black River Audubon Society. She has birded around the world including Antarctica, China, New Zealand, Germany, and Venezuela. In 2019 she traveled to both her 50th state (Alaska) and her sixth continent (Asia).
