Why I Do This

I’m Alex. I help people see the world differently, starting with birds.

For the past twenty years, I’ve worked as an ecologist, birding guide, educator, field biologist, and conservation advocate across ecosystems throughout North America and beyond. My work brings together birds, field biology, environmental education, photography, conservation, and immersive natural history interpretation.

As an avian biologist, I’ve counted migrating birds of prey in the Florida Keys, collected bird data in National Parks and National Forests, and worked throughout the deserts of the American Southwest as an avian specialist supporting renewable energy and other landscape-scale development projects. I’ve also trained field biologists in the identification, survey, and monitoring skills necessary to collect reliable avian data and help projects meet wildlife-related permit and environmental compliance requirements.

As a guide and naturalist, I’ve led birding, photography, and educational experiences in Alaska, Antarctica, Mexico, Brazil, Iceland, Greenland, and across the western United States. My travels as a birder and field naturalist have also taken me throughout Colombia, Panama, Argentina, the West Indies, Thailand, and other parts of Southeast Asia. One of the greatest privileges of this work has been seeing many North American birds across their entire annual cycles, from breeding grounds in the Arctic and boreal forests to migratory stopovers and wintering habitats thousands of miles away.

I also spent four years serving as the Education and Outreach Director for the Red Rock Audubon Society, where I developed and led youth and adult education programs, fostered partnerships with schools and conservation organizations, secured grant funding, and created opportunities for college students, volunteers, and emerging conservation leaders. That work reinforced something I had already begun to understand in the field: knowledge matters, but what people do with it matters even more.

Today, I divide my time between working as an expedition guide and naturalist with a particular background in birds and photography; providing educational courses, field training, guiding, and other services through Nature in Mind; and remaining dedicated to conservation as a volunteer and active community member in Southern Nevada.

The résumé is real, but it isn’t the point.

What stays with me most is what happens when someone truly pays attention for the first time. A beginner sees a bird they may have walked past a thousand times, learns its voice, watches what it is doing, and suddenly something shifts. It's more than new knowledge, it’s a new relationship with the place around them.

That moment can be a way in. Wonder becomes further curiosity. Curiosity becomes knowledge and skill. Skill builds confidence. And confidence can eventually become agency: What can I actually do with what I know? How can I contribute? 

That progression, from wonder to skill to stewardship, is at the heart of Nature in Mind.

Whether someone is pursuing professional field experience, becoming a sharper birder, finding a meaningful role in conservation, or simply learning to become amazed by the living world, I want to provide a foundation strong enough for them to keep going.

I believe most people don’t lack caring. Often, they lack confidence, access, experience, or an invitation to participate. I want to help close those gaps: teaching people how to observe more carefully, giving them practical skills, connecting them with opportunities, and helping them recognize that they have something meaningful to contribute.

Birds are often where I begin. But the larger work is about people: their growth, their relationship with place, and their willingness to show up for the natural world around them.

Thanks for reading. I’m glad you’re here.