Elisa grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she started birding at the age of eight. Her spark bird was a pair of Red-billed Leiothrixes scolding her and her family on a local trail. These early experiences in the “extinction capital of the world” catalyzed her decision to pursue a career in wildlife conservation.
Elisa has been involved in bird research since 2018, including monitoring nest boxes in California’s Central Valley, monitoring seabird colonies on a remote Alaskan island, searching for Steller’s Eider nests in Utqiagvik, Alaska, and banding Collared Flycatchers in Sweden. She graduated from the University of California, Davis, in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Management and a minor in Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology.
Today, Elisa volunteers with Mount Diablo Bird Alliance, the Galindo Creek Field Station, and seasonally with the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory.
Her favorite place and time to bird in California is the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge in mid-January. Although it is freezing cold, she finds it incredible to watch clouds of Snow Geese take flight when a Bald Eagle passes through.
When she is not birding, Elisa is taking classes toward an associate’s degree in small business management, trying to visit all 73 East Bay Regional Parks, planning international birding trips with friends, and working part-time at her local library.
Elisa also speaks Brazilian Portuguese and is learning Spanish and German.
