I have been a lover of birds and a birdwatcher all my life. By studying bird behavior in the wild, I have been able to marry my passion for birds with my love of science. My PhD focused on dominance hierarchies in wintering flocks of white-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) in North Carolina, and I have also investigated breeding rivalries among male stripe-backed wrens (Campylorhynchus nuchalis) in Venezuela. But for the past 20 years, I have had my hands full keeping up with loons during the summer and teaching at Chapman University in Orange, California at other times. My CV gives some idea of what I have done during my academic career.