Meet the 2025 Crew: Goshute Mountains HawkWatch

Originally from Southern California, Kenzie recently completed her bachelor’s degree at Boise State University in Biology with an emphasis in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior. She spent three seasons working with American Kestrels learning about their morphology and behavior, and is ecstatic to further her career in raptor biology. She looks forward to honing her raptor identification skills and getting to know new species of raptor, though she’s unsure whether another species will compare to her favorite—American Kestrels! When she’s not in the field, she spends her time reading, hiking, knitting, and skiing in the winter. She is beyond excited to witness her first fall migration!

This is Skyler’s second migration season spent with HawkWatch International at the Goshute Mountains and third as part of our migration crews overall. He looks forward to sharing the excitement of raptor migration with visitors (like you!) and this year’s crew members. Apart from the fall migration season, Skyler keeps occupied with other raptor conservation projects ranging from work with Great Gray Owls and Golden Eagles in Northwestern Wyoming to endangered populations of Sharp-shinned Hawks and Broad-winged Hawks in Puerto Rico. Outside of the bird world, Skyler can be found spending time with friends at the local climbing area or kayaking down a nearby river. Swallow-tailed Kites are Skyler’s favorite raptor, and he hopes that 2025 might be the year one passes by the Goshute HawkWatch migration site.

Bob grew up in Central Pennsylvania and now lives in Park City, Utah. He has an Engineering Degree from Lehigh University and an MBA from the University of Utah. Bob is currently an Education Docent for HWI, which is a great compliment to being on the migration team and extremely satisfying to keep young people in touch with nature. 

This will be his third year at a migration site after serving at both the Goshute Mountains and Commissary Ridge HawkWatches. Bob is excitedly looking forward to further developing his migration skills by collaborating with the team and the talented HWI staff. He is also looking to develop his bird photography skills during the season.

A passion of Bob’s is exploring remote wild areas on extended backpacking trips. Red-tailed Hawks are his favorite raptor species.

Natalie grew up in Park City, Utah, where she spent most of her time outdoors skiing, biking, and backpacking. She earned her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Utah but soon discovered her real passion for raptor research. After visiting the Goshute Mountains HawkWatch in 2023, she returned the next fall as a crew member, where she sharpened her raptor ID skills and gained hands-on experience trapping and banding. This past spring, she joined the HWI CARES team and had the amazing chance to work with kestrels, which are now her favorite raptors. In her free time, Natalie is a ski bum who also loves biking and exploring remote trails. She’s excited to be back for another migration season!

Our last crewmember to meet is Amaya, who had this to share: Originally from Humboldt, California, I first became interested in bird fieldwork by volunteering at a songbird banding station near my home. Since then, I’ve worked for several songbird projects across the country, with a bit of hummingbird, diurnal raptor, and small owl work. I recently graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Environmental Biology and Applied Ecology, and I want to work seasonal field jobs for a while to see where they take me. Aside from all things bird-related, I enjoy living out of my car or tent in mountainous regions of the continent, and I look forward to doing so full-time at the Goshute Mountains HawkWatch. As this is my first season hawkwatching, I’m most excited to gain a more intimate understanding of raptors, both in their migratory movements and in-hand, especially with two of my favorite species, the Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawks and Merlins.