Ryan Dibala, Ph.D. - Birding Man - is a certified Master Naturalist, educator, and author of several peer-reviewed articles on Ecology. He began birding sixteen years ago when he worked as a wildlife researcher restoring Bald Eagles to Channel Islands National Park. Enamored by wildlife, he moved to Costa Rica where he studied avian distribution in Talamancan cloud forests and later found himself in Ecuador, where he spent two years working on conservation projects as a Peace Corps volunteer. Ryan returned to the States and received his M.S. in Biology from Ball State University studying the settlement patterns of Cerulean Warblers. Aware of the crucial connection between habitat conservation and species survival, Ryan later worked as a Forest Restoration Consultant for an environmental non-profit in Panama. This led to an opportunity to earn his Ph.D. conducting research on agroforestry at the University of Missouri. Ryan has taught conservation biology to University students in South Africa and Chilean Patagonia. He is an experienced backcountry guide and is fluent in Spanish. His life-long passion lies at the intersection of education, ecology and sustainable land use. He lives with his wife Angie and their dog Sushi in Arvada, Colorado.