Adult Advisors
Darlene Sillick
Darlene Sillick loves to give a hoot for nature, conservation and education with anyone who will listen. She is also called the Bluebird Lady and has done many conservation projects in many areas in Ohio. In her day job, Darlene is Executive Assistant to the CIO at Cardinal Health. Spending time with her family is very important in her life.
James Muller
James Muller started birding by bicycle when he was 12 years old, before there was an OYBC. Since then, he’s recorded birds in 33 states and has seen almost 350 species in Ohio. When he’s not birding, James is a Workforce Application Specialist for Safelite AutoGlass and enjoys spending time with his family in Cleveland.
Ann Petruska
Ann Petrushka joined OYBC in the Spring of 2018. She was previously a board member of East Central (Ohio) Audubon. As a 3rd grade instructor at Northridge Primary in Alexandria, Ohio, she coordinates and leads “Earth Week” at the Primary. This is a week set aside each year that focuses on environmental studies and nature. Activities include outdoor nature study, presentations from visiting speakers, and live animal education programs. In addition to working with the OYBC, Ann enjoys birding, biking, hiking, creeking, and traveling.
Warren Grody
Warren Grody became a birder by accident. On a lark, his wife Linda bought him a pair of Bushnell 10x 50 binoculars for Christmas. Not long after, he identified an American Coot in his community pond and he was hooked. Since then, he has volunteered for Columbus Audubon at Green Lawn Cemetery for the past decade, served two terms on the CA Board, during which he was Treasurer for two years, and he has chaired the John Wilson Memorial Education Fund since its inception. In his spare time, Warren is an education lawyer at the law firm of Bricker & Eckler
Youth Advisors
Adriana
Adriana is a teen birder from Centerburg, Ohio. She has always been interested in nature, but took up a major interest in birds at age 7.
Adriana is a member of the Ohio Young Birders Club, Delaware County Bird club, and the American Birding Association. She attended her first Young Birder camp in the summer of 2017, Hog Island Coastal Maine Bird Studies for Teens, and hopes to attend many other young birder camps in the future.
Other than birding Adriana is interested in music. She plays the flute in her school’s marching and concert bands. She participated in Knox County and District honors bands as a middle schooler. Adriana is also passionate about photography, academics, volunteering at church, and spending time with her family and friends.
Katelyn
Katelyn is a freshman in high school at age 15. She did not start birding until 2015, and I didn’t find out about OYBC until 2016. Her “spark bird” (the one that truly sparked her interest in birding) was an American Woodcock, and she still is excited to see them every year! She has 199 birds on her life list.
Katelyn plans on attending a youth birding camp in Colorado. She’s never been west of the Mississippi River so it should be an adventure. Her other hobbies include band, drawing, kayaking and hanging out with friends.
Anna
Anna is a high school junior from the Central Ohio Young Birders Chapter and an avid artist, photographer, and traveler. She has birded in 14 different countries, including the Caribbean and Europe, with a cumulative life-list around 360 species.
She is a tour guide for the Biggest Week in American Birding, a selected guest at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Young Birder’s Event, and an artist with work exhibited in two galleries. When Anna isn’t birding, she is probably singing in one of three choirs, bowling for the varsity team at her high school, participating in service, caring for 17 pets, or chattering with her friends. Anna’s dream is to one day study ornithology and she hopes that being part of the Youth Advisory Board will allow her to share love for art and science with other OYBC students.
Elizabeth
Elizabeth Kanzeg, bird blogger and nature enthusiast, is thrilled to become a youth advisor for OYBC. Through OYBC, Elizabeth has conducted video interviews with birder Christian Hagenlocher and hiker Eddie Boyd, and is looking forward to interviewing Julie Zickefoose later this year. She recently worked alongside Kenn Kaufmann to present his annual ID quiz, and enjoyed MCing the OYBC conference in 2016. In addition to birding, Elizabeth enjoys books, languages, and music theory. When she catches a break from her homeschool studies, you may find her obsessively re-reading Watership Down, or singing in the church choir. Her blog, birdiesfinchesandferns.blogspot.com, was recently picked up on Twitter by the team at Brave Wilderness.