Kristin Cohea

Sitting by the window on quiet Saturday mornings, my grandmother and I watching the birds outside chowing down on seed, are some of my fondest memories. Together we would guess a bird's identity, then curiously open our Guide to North American Birds to see if our guesses were right. I would tiptoe around the dining room window so I wouldn't startle the birds from their meal, and though she never admitted it, I often saw her do the same. We, with my dad, built bird boxes together or jerry-rigged some new techniques to discourage squirrel burglars from stealing from our feeders. My grandmother encouraged me to be a good environmental steward, and though she's passed on, that passion and part of her remain with me. Today, I'm a 25-year-old who is returning to university to study pre-law in the hopes of one day becoming an environmental advocate in law. Volunteering as liaison for Lake Elberta has been incredibly inspiring - there are so many people passionate about our community and eager to help preserve this beautiful park. Their eagerness has encouraged me to be more involved in the Apalachee Audubon Society! 



More personally, I currently work with the State of Florida, providing administrative and organizational support. Communication and collaboration have been integral to my professional experience and are skills I believe I can use to help serve the chapter. In my free time, I can usually be found reading anything I can get hands-on, talking to my plants, or gloating about how adorable my cats are.

Juli deGrummond

I have been a birder pretty much all of my life! I can remember as a young kid reading in Ranger Rick magazine about bluebird trails and seeing the fantastically blue birds and dreaming of seeing one, which finally first happened when I was 18 years old. I spent my youth out in nature every moment that I could. I recall lying on the ground and watching the Red-tailed Hawks soaring in the sky as I made mental note of their red tails, walking out in fields and having Northern Bobwhite burst up in front of me like thunder, and even climbing trees to look in nests to see eggs and young. I have gone through various levels of birding as I have gone through the stages of life. I am passionate about birding and spend all of my free time out in the world looking at birds. I spend all of my time that I am not able to be out in the field either studying some element of birds or thinking about birds and birding. I love the natural world and pretty much all animals. I am currently working on eliminating invasive plants from my yard and planting more native plants. I am a strong believer in taking care of this planet that is filled with the amazing wildlife I love! 

Kristan Godbeer

Kristan originally hails from the United Kingdom, where he caught the bird bug early, having grown up surrounded by birds and bird enthusiasts. In 1989, he began his career as a zoo aviculturist at Rode Bird Gardens in the rural county of Somerset. This early exposure to the wealth of avian diversity inspired him to study zoology at Bangor University in North Wales, where he graduated with First Class Honors. He received his Master of Science in Conservation and Biodiversity, with distinction, from the University of Exeter. 

Afterwards, he took up a post as a Terrestrial Ecologist with the Cayman Islands Department of Environment. He was involved in everything terrestrial, and initiated the Cayman Brac parrot monitoring project, surveyed seabird colonies, and was a co-author of the National Biodiversity Action Plan. He moved to Arizona in 2010, and has since undertaken ornithological fieldwork in Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota, Mississippi, and Sonora Mexico. Before heading to the Southeast, he was the Wildlife Research Specialist for the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University.

Kristan and his wife Hiliary are recent arrivals to Florida. They fell in love with the Tallahassee area whilst exploring the Southeast. Subsequently, they decided to move there in November 2022. Kristan can be found birding at Audubon events, St. Marks NWR, and the many other parks in and around Tallahassee.

Jim Huffstodt

Jim was born in LaSalle, Illinois. He and his wife, Judy, have lived in Tallahassee for 20 years after moving here from West Palm Beach. He is a member of Audubon, the Sierra Club, and the American Birding Association. Jim has worked at various times over 25 years as a public information officer and press liaison for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission in the West Palm Everglades Regional Office and the Illinois Department of Conservation in Springfield. Before that, he was a public relations specialist for an Illinois community college and a reporter/feature writer for a daily newspaper. Through the years Jim has written dozens of freelance magazine articles for various publications focusing on history and conservation/wildlife topics, and five non-fiction books including his most recent title: The Man Who Loved Birds: Pioneer Ornithologist Dr. Frank M. Chapman, 1864-1945. The award-winning author’s articles have appeared in Florida Wildlife, Florida Sportsman, Tallahassee Magazine, Dog World Magazine, Civil War Times, and the DAR’s (Daughters of the American Revolution) American Spirit magazine. He holds degrees in history and journalism from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. From 1966 until 1969, he served in the U. S. Army as a military reporter with service in the Vietnam Conflict (1967). 

Rebecca Wall

Rebecca became a lover of birds at age nine when she cared for ten geese for a 4-H project in Heron, Montana. Since her years in 4-H, Rebecca has become fascinated by all birds, but she is particularly fond of shore birds and water birds. 

After five years of active-duty service in the United States Marine Corps, Rebecca graduated from Carroll College in Helena, Montana, with a BA in Sociology. Since then, she has completed an ocean conservation internship with Indo Ocean Project in Nusa Penida, Indonesia, and she has attended several courses at the University Centre of the Westfjords, Ísafjörður, Iceland, where she concentrated on Coastal and Marine Management. Currently, Rebecca works for Florida State University (FSU) as a researcher, and she will be attending FSU in the academic year of 2023-2024 where she will earn an MS in Geospatial Information Science (GIS). Upon graduating from FSU, Rebecca hopes to find employment where she can work toward protecting and restoring Florida’s natural habitats while supporting/promoting sustainable ways that humans and the natural world can co-exist. While Rebecca is a global nomad who has spent her life working, learning, and volunteering in over fifteen countries, she has decided to plant roots in Tallahassee, Florida, for the next couple of years. 

When Rebecca is not working or attending school, she can be found picking up litter anywhere from parking lots to public parks, to her adopted road with the Keep Tallahassee Beautiful Program. She also enjoys hiking, swimming, SCUBA diving, and birdwatching.