Sarah SaundersSarah received her doctorate from the University of Minnesota, where she studied Great Lakes piping plovers with her advisor, Francie Cuthbert. Since high school, Sarah knew she wanted to be a conservation biologist, and in graduate school she was esecially interested in working with endangered species. After studying Francie's work with plovers, she knew she found her scientific calling. Sarah spent six summers leading the field banding crew and fell in love with the work - despite the very early mornings, lots of time in the car traveling to far-flung nesting locations, and months away from her cat "Piper" (named, of course, after the piping plovers). Now, as a scientist at Audubon, she investigates a range of important questions to help conserve many bird species, but she'll always have a special place in her heart for Great Lakes piping plovers. Sarah resides in Michigan, so she continues to contribute to piping plover recovery efforts by helping to band and monitor as needed during the summer. "Once you spend time with piping plovers, you stay involved in any way you can and never look back," she says. After nearly 15 years immersed in the plover world, Sarah is excited to spend the next 15 immersing her son in the wonder of piping plover conservation work as well. Read More Read Less