Nate Adams
Favorite Bird: Black-Crowned Night Heron
Chair - I have always enjoyed being outside: I would be out there every chance I got! I worked on yard projects with my Grandpa when I was young. My friends and I created our own Herpetology Club in elementary school. My Mom enjoyed watching the birds in our backyard and I started watching them too. Birding really “clicked” with me and became my number one hobby.
I am a strong believer that the outdoors is good for your outlook on life and also good for your physical health. I was fortunate to have a childhood where people exposed me to the outdoors. I am passionate about passing that onto others. I believe that my generation will play a pivotal role in conservation and I think it is vital to educate people on the benefits of caring for our environment and the consequences of neglecting it. Often in life, you do not appreciate what you see in front of you until it is gone.
Caring about birds goes beyond their beauty and fascinating nature. I think birds can tell us many things about what is going on with the environment and the state of our planet. I’m excited to be involved with teaching kids about the wonders of nature and contributing to an organization that I believe in!
Nate Adams
Favorite Bird: Black-Throated Blue Warbler
Vice Chair - John is a high school science teacher at Hopkins High School teaching environmental science courses. He has also taught in St. Paul Public Schools, the University of Minnesota, and Dunwoody College of Technology. He has also worked at The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota in the education department.
John has been passionate about animals, in particular birds, since he was a child. This passion led him to get a BS and MS in wildlife biology. He studied tundra nesting birds for his master's degree. He loves to go birdwatching at any time and appreciates the joy and groundedness it provides him in his life. He loves MYBirdClub for trying to connect youth to this same important experience of connecting with nature.
Amy Simso Dean
Favorite Bird: Turkey Vulture
Founder, Executive Director, Board President, Guide - Amy has been birding for over 30 years. She founded MYBirdClub in 2014 in a Minneapolis Public Elementary School. She also co-founded The Kestrels (an inclusive birding club for MN women) where she organizes bird-related events and field trips. Amy also volunteers with MN Ornithologists Union.
In 2010 she started volunteering for The Raptor Center’s education department - giving tours and presenting live bird programs. Now she works there part time in a variety of roles.
In 2024 she became a MN Master Naturalist.
As much as she loves birding, she really loves getting people, especially kids, excited about birds and conservation.
Wendy Giannattasio
Favorite Bird: Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
Secretary - My love for birding began in college when I enrolled in an Ornithology course. In the weekly lab we explored different types of habitats and identified birds through sight and sound. I remember the thrill of seeing my first incredibly blue Indigo Bunting and the first time I saw a little Saw-Whet Owl.
After college I taught seventh grade Life Science and Outdoor Education for five years in Stoughton, WI. Through birding I learned many things, but the most valuable life lesson is the more you look, the more you see. I am really excited about the work MYBirdClub is doing sharing a love and knowledge of birds and helping inspire a love of nature in the next generation.
Melissa Sorenson
Favorite Bird: Common Raven
Treasurer - I have been an avid birder for the last 10 years or so and love nature and being outdoors! I have been interested in birding and nature since I was a little girl growing up in the upper peninsula of Michigan. My “grandmother”, a lovely elderly lady who lived in our upstairs duplex apartment had a neat feeder outside her kitchen window. I would often sit with her in the morning in awe of what birds would land there.
When the Evening Grosebeaks appeared she would lament that cold weather was coming. My Dad bought me my first pair of binoculars and we would go to our lake cottage in search of Bald Eagles which were much more of a rarity back in the 70s.
I love MYBirdClub's mission to get kids outside birding and enjoying nature. I wish this club would have been available to me when I was younger!
Joining the board as a treasurer is a wonderful opportunity to get more connected with what I find to be a passion of mine: Birding!
Our Board
John Harris
Favorite Bird: Blue Jay
What sparked your interest in birding and/or nature awareness? I've always been interested in the nature around us. After moving to the Twin Cities, I developed a fascination with how nature continues to thrive amongst all our human disruptions, and my interest in birds and birding developed hand in hand with this. It started with a backyard feeder, identifying the birds my children and I saw and heard, and has progressed into exploring what birds are in our neighborhood using Merlin with my kids.
How do you connect to the mission of MYBC? My youngest child is very interested in learning about nature, with a specific interest in birds. While searching for activities to foster this interest, we went on our first MYBirdClub outing. I loved the child-focused educational adventure that this provided. I felt it was an excellent organization that could help spark the next generation's interest in the natural world around us.
What do you do when you are not outside or birding? I love board games, card games, and role playing games. I try to spend as much time as I can around a table enjoying the company of friends and family.
Nora Bezanson
Favorite Bird: Willow Ptarmigan
Board Member - I've always loved the outdoors, and birding is one of my favorite hobbies. I started in 2017, and I've been going ever since! It feels like every year, I find something new to love about it (and a new bird for my life list!). Someday I hope to be a wildlife biologist or naturalist, but for now I am very happy to help guide and show other kids how fun birding is.
Maximillian Borge
Favorite Bird: Kookabura
Guide, Board Member - Max most recently worked as a Naturalist and Outreach Coordinator at the University of Minnesota's Raptor Center.
Since traveling to Costa Rica in high school to assist with Sea Turtle conservation, Max has been fascinated with the outdoors and the flora/ fauna that we share it with. Since graduating with a degree in Environmental Studies Max has spent most of his professional life working as a classroom educator, an environmental educator, and a Zookeeper.
MYBird Club has provided Max with the opportunity to further encourage empathy for the outdoors with the local community.