Home DONATE TO HOP! Owl Cams About HOP Meet Our Volunteers Owl Box Management Program Beneficial Predators Owl Boxes Projects & Partners Returning Baby Hawks & Owls to Nests Education Bluebirds News & Stories Natural History Research Rodent Control Links Contact	Meet Our Staff & Volunteers HOP is a small group of dedicated volunteers, supplemented & sustained by members of the community who support us, build boxes for us, and help us in many ways.   Alex Godbe, Director Alex formed HOP in 2002 in order to help educate the public about the dangers to wildlife from using pesticides and rodenticides, provide safe habitat for owls and other wildlife and inspire the idea of stewardship. A volunteer at WildCare since 1996, Alex completed an internship there during that time and volunteered as a raptor team leader and studied Raptor Educational Handling at World Bird Sanctuary.   Julie Hanft - Assistant to the Director Julie joined HOP on a part-time basis in April of 2009. She assists the Director with communications, box sales, and other office matters. She is also a nature educator with the Greenwood School and GreenPlay.   Jack Putnam - Vineyard Management Program Jack joined HOP on a part-time basis in 2011. Jack started as a volunteer in the Wildcare Bird Room in 2007, then migrated to HOP modifying and building bat and owl boxes. Last year he inspected vineyard owl boxes. This year Jack is doing nest box consultations and installations, assisting in the Vineyard Management Program, and helping with various side projects. Jack meets prospective vineyard, ranch, farm and other clients to evaluate the feasibility of installing Barn Owl and Western Bluebird boxes.   Wookie Wookie is a nonreleasable Barn Owl who helps educate children and adults as HOP's educational ambassador.   Anne Ardillo Anne has been with HOP since 2002 and has been an active volunteer for Golden Gate Raptor Observatory and WildCare for over 17 years. Along with Alex Godbe she started Baskets for Birds which renests hawk and owl nestlings that have been displaced from their nests. One of her main contributions to HOP is springtime monitoring of the owl boxes which includes applying federal leg bands to the young owls that occupy the boxes.   Jim Cairnes Jim is an arborist and owner of Small World Tree Company. Jim has volunteered with HOP for many years helping to install owl boxes in trees and other projects.   Darren Davis Darren is a co-founder of HOP and volunteers building boxes when time permits. He enjoys working with kids and sharing his knowledge of the interesting facts about owls. He especially likes climbing trees for HOP. He says it makes him "feel like a little kid again.”   Star Dewar Star, a Sonoma County resident, served as a volunteer and then Administrator for the Kenwood Wildlife Center for twenty years.  Before that she volunteered at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito for six years in the education department.  Star’s main career is professional photography, both in her studio and underwater. She holds the position of senior photographer for Dolphin and Whale Magazine as well as author of many published true stories of interspecies communication with animals.  Her fascination with raptors and passionate drive to inform the masses about conserving nature using non-toxic rodent control led her to join the selfless efforts of Alex Godbe’s Hungry Owl Project team with intention to extend educational presentations to Sonoma County schools and organizations.     Bob Holt Bob is the woodshop instructor at San Rafael High School and has been helping students make Barn Owl and other nesting boxes for years.   Linda Knight Linda developed her love of the natural world in New England, settling in Sonoma County's Valley of the Moon in the late 1980s. Formally trained as an architect, Linda developed an expertise working with raptors while volunteering for various rehabilitation organizations. Linda has worked with HOP for a decade.   Mari Litsky Mari originally came to HOP because of her interest in owls, but being a retired schoolteacher herself, became intrigued with the educational aspect of the bluebird program. She jumped in with both feet and is now the coordinator of the program, organizing bluebird trails at schools and teaching students how to monitor the boxes.   Trinka Marris A HOP co-founder, Trinka has been an avid naturalist for 10 years and completed her Natural History Certificate at the College of Marin in 2007. She has a small farm in Point Reyes which she shares with her chickens, ducks, sheep, dogs, cats, and, of course, the neighborhood owls.   Tara McIntire Tara is a new volunteer to HOP who assists with education outreach, box construction, monitoring and banding programs. Her love of winged creatures and the outdoors grew from her native roots in rural New Hampshire which were further cultivated through a degree in environmental conservation and unforgettable course in ornithology. When not lending a helping hand (or being pooped on, bitten or screamed at - by owls, not children) Tara spends her work days as a landscape architect and free time hiking, biking, birding and as a Terwilliger Nature Guide with WildCare.     Maggie Rufo Maggie Rufo has volunteered with HOP for over eight years. Maggie currently helps with owl box monitoring, rescue and foster care. She has served as a spokesperson for HOP and given countless presentations to schools, community groups, businesses and the public. In addition, she has written articles for the HOP newsletter, created and maintained our database, created press releases, contributed to event planning, written grant applications, has been a public liasion, and moderated our owl cam and Facebook presence. Maggie created, wrote and produced the original HOP web site as a volunteer effort for eight years.   Melisa Williams Growing up in Marin, Melisa tripped with Mrs. Terwilliger (“Mrs. T”) and this instilled in her a life-long fondness and reverence for the natural world. She’s been volunteering for WildCare and HOP since 2007. Join us! For information about volunteering with the Hungry Owl Project, please contact us at info@hungryowl.org.