Contact Our Staff

Greg Kaltenecker co-founded IBO in 1992.  He received his BS in Biology and his MS in Raptor Biology from Boise State University. Greg currently holds the Diane and Winston Moore Endowed Chair for the Director of the Intermountain Bird Observatory.  Greg’s research passion is bird migration, and his lifelong pursuit is to educate the public about birds, science, and conservation. He believes that a strong public community presence is critical to being an effective scientist, and that the easiest way to accomplish conservation is through active public engagement.

Jay Carlisle is the Research Director of IBO and an Associate Research Faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences at Boise State.  He has worked with the Intermountain Bird Observatory since 1996 and Jay’s research interests are focused on the stopover ecology, habitat needs, and conservation of migratory landbirds in the West and in Latin America.  In his free time, Jay enjoys birding, soccer, hiking, trying to speak Spanish, and international travel.

Rob joined IBO in 2009 as a volunteer. This was his first step as a biologist after a 21-year career at HP. After completing a MS Degree in Raptor Biology, Rob joined IBO full time in 2013. Rob leads IBO Team Goshawk, a long-term study of goshawk ecology within the Intermountain West, and Project WAfLS, an eight state survey of Short-eared Owls. His other projects include Flammulated Owls, Great Gray Owls, woodpeckers (all ten species in Idaho), Mountain Quail, Belted Kingfishers, and Black Swifts. He has studied raptor migration in Tarifa, Spain and raptor populations in Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique.

Heidi joined IBO in 2008 when she volunteered as an undergrad intern at Lucky Peak. She worked at IBO throughout her bachelor’s degree, then went on to earn her M.S. in Biology from Boise State in 2014, where she studied the impacts of traffic noise on migrating songbirds. As Education Director Heidi coordinates our Boise River Research Station, runs our social media pages, conducts field trips, and teaches courses. Heidi focuses on using IBO’s strengths in hands-on science and community involvement to integrate K-12 science education with bird conservation.

Heather joined the IBO team in 2015 as a research biologist and works on the Long-billed Curlew Satellite Tracking program and as a bander for the Hummingbird Monitoring project. She has since deepened her role within the organization by serving as Community Science Coordinator. She is passionate about integrating her fieldwork with education, bringing a unique perspective to schools with “Curlews in the Classroom” programming and Hunter’s Ed classes with “Know Your Target” education. Heather also serves as the state-wide volunteer coordinator for the Short-eared Owl landscape study (WAfLS), as well as coordinating visitors to IBO’s banding research stations.

Jeremy transitioned from a seasonal technician to full-time IBO staff in 2016 and serves primarily as a co-manager of the large IMBCR point-count project in Idaho and Utah.  He also helped pilot a bioacoustics project at Lucky Peak in collaboration with MPG Ranch from Montana.  He is mostly interested in passive research/monitoring techniques and new technologies that give us more information and new perspectives into the avian world.  He enjoys getting out in the field to train technicians on bird identification and to aid in the various IBO projects.

Jenna joined IBO in 2022 after working many years as a wildlife biologist and field technician in Alaska and across the interior West. Jenna has a M.S. degree in Wildlife Resources from the University of Idaho, where she studied the ecology of Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse in NW Colorado. Her research is now being used to help identify appropriate habitat needs and aid in re-introduction programs for the subspecies. Jenna has been working in avian ecology since 2000, and has worked as an avian field technician for the Integrated Monitoring Bird Conservation Region (IMBCR) Program for over 6 years, including for IBO in 2016, and 2020-2021. As a Research Biologist now, Jenna is assisting with IBO’s Cassia Crossbill project and managing the Montana state portion of the IMBCR program.

In Fall 2021, Christian began a new job with Montana Audubon working as their Conservation Ranching Manager. While working for IBO he was always passionate about conservation on private lands and dedicated much of his time to working with landowners. We know he will thrive in his new position with Audubon and we wish him well!
If you need information about IBO’s work on the Montana IMBCR program, please email JeremyHalka@boisestate.edu

Stephanie first joined IBO as a songbird bander in 2009. In February 2022, Stephanie accepted a new job as a biologist with our friends at Point Blue Conservation Science. After her work on curlews with IBO, she’ll be sticking close to her heart working with shorebirds: her new job focuses on nesting Snowy Plovers!
If you need to reach us about IBO’s Curlew or Cuckoo projects, please email JayCarlisle@boisestate.edu

In Spring 2022, Jessica accepted a job with Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc. After 11 years with IBO coordinating a number of our key projects, we think WEST is lucky to have her! If you need information on IBO’s Hummingbird banding station, or other projects that Jessica lead for IBO, please email IBO@Boisestate.edu