People Type: Staff

Manuel recently joined Manomet’s Flyways Team as a Youth Engagement Specialist. In this role, he supports the continued growth of Experiencia Ambientalia at Laguna Mar Chiquita and helps expand the program to other saline lakes and WHSRN sites across the Americas. His work focuses on coordinating activities and volunteers, developing educational materials, supporting impact tracking and reporting, and building meaningful connections between communities that share important habitats for migratory shorebirds.

Manuel is a senior Systems Engineering student at the National Technological University in Tucumán, Argentina. He has more than five years of experience coordinating environmental and technology-focused education programs with Fundación Líderes de Ansenuza. He has helped design and implement youth programs, support participants throughout their learning experiences, and strengthen international partnerships. He also has experience in data analysis, using data to organize, track, and communicate information that supports decision-making.

He is excited to join Manomet because of its commitment to connecting science, communities, and conservation action across the hemisphere. Manuel is especially inspired by the opportunity to help young people understand the value and become active leaders in protecting the places they live in.

Outside of work, Manuel enjoys watching and playing sports, especially soccer. He also enjoys spending time outdoors, hiking and birding.

Duncan has extensive field experience in avian research, including conducting waterbird and point count surveys, evaluating wetland conditions, and supporting bird monitoring projects. He has also taken on leadership roles in the field and brings strong skills in bird identification, vegetation surveys, data management, and coordinating fieldwork. Duncan earned his B.S. in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology along with a minor in Plant Biology at North Carolina State University in 2021. He completed his M.S. at Mississippi State University, where he studied shorebird and other waterbird wetland use in the Mississippi LMAV, in 2025. Duncan is also an incredible naturalist and photographer.

Duncan has conducted hundreds of waterbird surveys in the LMAV and brings valuable regional expertise, along with a deep passion for birds and strong skills in both independent and team-based fieldwork. His background in both ornithology and plant identification further strengthens his ability to contribute to shorebird surveying/conservation in the LMAV.

In his role, Duncan will support wetland habitat conservation for migratory waterfowl and shorebirds by working with private landowners to implement and manage conservation programs. He will coordinate with agricultural producers, conduct waterbird surveys, manage conservation contracts, collect and enter field data, and share results through outreach and workshops with landowners and conservation partners across the region.

Dan is a Senior Shorebird Scientist based in Anchorage, Alaska. He worked for federal agencies in Alaska for 30 years, and transitioned to Manomet in 2026. His work focuses primarily on shorebirds, but Dan also has extensive experience studying Arctic-breeding landbirds and waterfowl. Given the globe-spanning migrations of Arctic-breeding shorebirds, he works with researchers and communities from around the world to understand factors that limit shorebird populations. Along with his colleagues, Dan has conducted numerous studies of the migration ecologies of Alaska-breeding curlews and godwits, documenting the movements of Hudsonian Whimbrels, Bristle-thighed Curlews, and Bar-tailed and Marbled Godwits. He has also conducted numerous studies to document the distribution and population status of landbirds in Alaska.

Dan received a Ph.D. in Animal Ecology from the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, in 2014 for research on the winter ecology of Rock Sandpipers in Cook Inlet, Alaska. For his Master of Science degree in Wildlife Management from Humboldt State University in Arcata, California, he studied the breeding ecology of Western Sandpipers on the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. As an undergraduate, Dan attended the University of Colorado in Boulder, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology. When he’s not chasing shorebirds, Dan enjoys cycling, Nordic skiing, and swimming. He also loves puttering in the garden with his family and relaxing with their cat, Hank, and dog, Miguel.

As an Education Specialist at the Wade Institute for Science Education at Manomet Conservation Sciences, Leslie is dedicated to helping science teachers shift their thinking about their role in the classroom. With over two decades of experience in middle and high school science, math, and STEM education, she strongly believes in the ability of ALL students to achieve high levels and in the need for schools to shift their practices to meet the changing demands of students and society. She is also passionate about designing and delivering high-quality professional learning experiences that educators can both use today and that shift their thinking for the long term.

Leslie earned her Bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis and her Master’s degree from Indiana University-Bloomington. She later participated in the Educator Leadership Initiative (ELI) through Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts to earn her administrator licensure.

At Manomet, Leslie enjoys designing and facilitating professional learning that supports teachers and administrators in implementing the OpenSciEd curriculum and helps us all continue to make the shifts in curriculum and pedagogy outlined by Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the Massachusetts 2016 Frameworks. Outside of work, Leslie enjoys running, gardening, playing in the mountains, and spending time with her husband, two kids, two cats, and one dog.

Originally from Paraguay, Cindy joined the WHSRN Executive Office—housed within Manomet’s Flyways Program—in 2025.

She has over nine years of experience promoting environmental education and scientific outreach and has led projects with rural communities, indigenous peoples, and the productive sector.

Before joining the team, Cindy worked to conserve key bird sites as Communications and Society Coordinator at Guyra Paraguay, a BirdLife International partner, where she promoted social marketing initiatives. She also developed social monitoring plans for carbon projects (REDD+) and worked as a social specialist on initiatives with VCS and CCB certifications. Cindy has coordinated communication strategies within tri-national and multi-sector networks, such as the Tri-national Atlantic Forest Restoration Network and the Pantanal Observatory, and designed campaigns to promote sustainable tourism for government agencies, including Paraguay’s National Secretariat of Tourism.

Cindy studied Communication Sciences with a focus on journalism at the National University of Asunción, complementing her studies with training in scientific writing and project management. In her free time, she enjoys outdoor sports and bird watching, as well as being an enthusiastic nature photographer.