Andre is a lifelong naturalist who discovered his love for birds at eight years old after becoming fascinated by a Dark-eyed Junco at his family’s backyard feeder. Growing up in Morris County in northern New Jersey, he spent much of his childhood seeking out any bird he could find close to home. As he began traveling more widely, he became increasingly drawn to the way birding reveals both new species and the lesser-known landscapes that support them.
Andre attended Cornell University, where he studied environmental science and ecology. Whenever he wasn’t in class, he was either working at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology or organizing and leading trips for the university birding club. After graduating, he worked as a hawk counter in Montclair, New Jersey, contributing to a community that had shaped his early birding experiences. More recently, he worked with the Kaua‘i Forest Bird Recovery Project in Hawai‘i, helping protect critically endangered native forest birds threatened by rapid environmental change.
Andre is excited to guide with American Birding Guides and to share his enthusiasm for birds with others. He believes that the more people connect with the natural world, the stronger our collective commitment to conservation becomes. When he isn’t in the field or guiding, he can be found editing distribution maps for Merlin and Cornell’s Birds of the World, birding locally, or relaxing with his guitar.
