Meet The Crew

AARON GIVEN, Wildlife Biologist; Bander-In-Charge (Master Bander)

Aaron has been a Wildlife Biologist for the Town of Kiawah Island since 2008.  He grew up in Oswego, IL (a far suburb of Chicago) and graduated with a B.S. in Zoology from Southern Illinois University in 2000.   Aaron went on to attend Southeast Missouri State University where he received a M.S. in Wildlife Biology in 2005.  In graduate school, he studied the wintering ecology of yellow rails in coastal Texas.  This is where he got his first exposure to bird banding and was fascinated with being able to study and observe the birds in such fine detail.  His primary research interest is in ornithology with a special focus on avian ecology and management, passerine migration ecology, and secretive marshbird ecology.  Aaron is a member of the South Carolina Bird Records Committee and is also a statewide eBird reviewer but focuses on Charleston and Berkeley Counties of South Carolina.  Aaron is also serving as 1st Vice President of the Eastern Bird Banding Association and is currently planning to 2025 annual meeting which will be held at Kiawah Island.  When not working, he enjoys birding, creating wildlife habitat in his yard, and managing a small flock of chickens in his backyard.

MICHAEL GAMBLE, Wildlife Biologist (subpermittee)

Michael has been a Wildlife Biologist for the Town of Kiawah Island since February 2024. He grew up in Charleston, SC and has a bachelor's degree in biology from the College of Charleston and a Master of Science degree in wildlife biology from Louisiana State University. His graduate research investigated the movement ecology of golden-cheeked warblers in central Texas. Before attending graduate school, he worked on several avian ecology projects, which included seven migration banding seasons, four of which were at the Kiawah Island Banding Station.

KRISTIN ATTINGER, Bander-In-Charge (subpermittee)

Kristin is from Knox Dale, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Penn State with a B.S. in 2018.  Her most recent job gave her the opportunity to go out of the country to the island of Rota in the western Pacific. This is a small island that has endemic species that were studied through the Institute of Bird Population. The goal was to start a TMAPS station and collect data to gain more knowledge of the species residing on the island. Determining what her favorite species there is pretty hard but overall, the Micronesian Rufous Fantail might be the best with the Mariana Fruit Dove coming in second. This will be Kristin’s 7^th season at KIBS, and each year brings some great species to the station. She cannot wait to work with a great crew and see what is in store for the season!

NATALIE MILLER, Banding Assistant

Natalie is from Topeka, Kansas and graduated from Kansas State University in 2023 with a B.S. in Conservation Biology. During her time at Kansas State she did winter banding and summer Grasshopper Sparrow work on Konza Prairie Biological Station. Her latest job was in Montana working on the Motus tagging of Sprague’s Pipits. This will be her 2nd year at Kiawah, and she is excited to see what the season has in store! In her free time she enjoys listening to music, reading, and hiking. 

NOAH NEI, Banding Assistant

Noah is from East Bethel, Minnesota and graduated in 2020 from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay with a B.S. in Conservation Biology. Since graduating he has worked various bird related field jobs but has been pursuing a career in bird banding since 2022. He has spent the last three spring field seasons working closely with Black-capped Vireos in Texas and spent last fall in Idaho at a songbird banding station. In between seasonal field work, Noah takes time to travel and within the last year has spent time in Ecuador, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona chasing birds! Although he is most fond of the southwest, he is excited to be working on the east coast this fall and to experience fall migration there for the first time. Black-throated Blue, Blackpoll and Canada Warblers are his most anticipated birds to be seen at the station.

   

LISA VIVIANO, Banding Assistant

Lisa is from the Hudson Valley, New York and received a B.S. in Biology from Binghamton University in 2021. Since graduating, she found work with banding owls, shorebirds, raptors, and songbirds throughout the U.S. Her previous field job included monitoring Black-capped Vireos in Texas, and one of her early field jobs with Georgia DNR included canon-netting for Red Knots on Kiawah Island during spring migration, so she is very excited to be back and get to know more of the fall migrants here! She especially looks forward to seeing Prairie Warbler and American Redstart at the station. Lisa's interests outside of work include camping, swimming, birding and photography.