Isaac has been birdwatching for over a decade and is now turning that passion into a career. He spent the first 11 years of his life in southeastern China, then moved to Starkville, Mississippi for school. He received an associate’s degree in animal sciences at East Mississippi Community College and a bachelor’s in biology with a concentration in zoology at Mississippi State University. During his time at MSU, Isaac gained extensive technical experience in avian research and specimen management. His work included assisting with a bird-window collision research project, managing the care of Zebra Finches, and preparing avian study skins for the MSU research collection. Following graduation, he accepted a position with MSU and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks to research Northern Bobwhite habitat distribution across a 4,000-acre property in the Mississippi Delta. Isaac’s conservation work also extends into his personal time—he has assisted U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with Yellow Rail dragline surveys and Delta Wind Birds on a shorebird banding project. Recently, he has been submitting observations to iNaturalist and hopes to differentiate between Quercus and Lithobates sometime soon.
Isaac answered a few questions so we can get to know him better.
1. What is your favorite bird?
For myself, this is an almost impossible question. However, I often find myself saying my favorite bird is the one I’m currently chasing, which is the Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus). I’ve spent most of my time trying to find it in Arkansas with little luck. Now that I’m in Texas, I’m sure I’ll see one in no time. My long-term chase is the Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica), with breeding populations in the northern and western tundras of Alaska. This beautiful old-world flycatcher caught my eye as a teenager, and I’ve wanted to make a trip there ever since.
2. What did you want to be when you were young?
Even as a child, I was always fascinated by the “whys and hows” of animals and knew every fact I could get my hands on by heart. Zookeeper was the dream job I held on to for the longest time, but as I grew up, I was introduced to the wonderful world of birds. I focused on general animal behavior as I started college and narrowed it down to a love for migratory bird ecology. So I guess in one way or another, I’m living out my childhood dream by finding jobs that involve observing the behavior of birds that migrate.
3. What is the best gift you have been given?
I often think about the time I was given my first pair of binoculars. My local birdwatching group chipped in for a pair of Alpens when I was a teenager. At the time, I was carrying around this little digital zoom Kodak camera, and most passerines certainly don’t wait long enough for that. Those bins are a little beat up a decade later, but I will always appreciate their support and contributions toward my endeavors.
4. If you were a super-hero, what powers would you have?
I’ve always wanted the ability to manipulate time. There just never seems to be enough of it. After all, it is the most precious commodity.
5. What’s your favorite cuisine or dish?
I’ve always had a weakness for Italian food, and lasagna is no exception. Much like the overweight orange tabby from the popular serialized comic, I simply cannot help myself when “nature’s most perfect food” is in the room. It also helps that my mother makes a pretty awesome lasagna every year for my birthday. Sure, “everyone’s mother is the best cook,” but I would put money down on her if she entered a moms-only cook-off.
6. What was your favorite subject in school?
Does the Ornithology class I took in college count? Between the avian taxidermy job I picked up at the university and my role as the “bird nerd” of the MSU wildlife quiz bowl team, I was pushed to expand my knowledge beyond bird ID. I most certainly wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity to work with these awesome Charadriiformes without those experiences. Oh, all three of those things were run by the same professor, by the way. (Shout out, Dr. Ayers!)
7. Do you collect anything?
At this point, the only thing I collect is bird photography because I still haven’t done anything with the undisclosed terabytes of pictures sitting on my hard drive. I also collect cool rocks for my younger brother and keychains for my younger sister from places that I’ve traveled to over the years.
8. How many languages do you speak?
My first language was pretty much Mandarin Chinese. I’m not as fluent anymore, but I can still speak some basic phrases. My favorite phrases to say are “乱七八糟” and “什么?” even though nobody gets it. Pranking people by adding Chinese while talking to them is pretty fun too. I also picked up a little Swedish and German in my teens, but lost interest as I started focusing on college. Oh, and I guess I can speak English too.
9. What is one thing you will never do again?
Although it’s unfortunately unlikely that I will never do this again, there was that one time I drove for about 24 hours straight on about three hours of sleep. I’m pretty sure my body still hasn’t forgiven me for putting it through that. Another one that I will be glad to strike from the list is digging out a raccoon burrow in search of a dead quail. She was fitted with one of our radio telemetry collars, which is not very accurate underground. This five-hour excavation in the sweltering heat of the Mississippi delta is not an endeavor I hope to repeat.
10. What experience inspired your interest in working with shorebirds?
The challenge of distinguishing difficult bird species has been a driver of my birding journey. I started off with warblers, then sparrows, and got stuck at shorebirds (not ID, but fascination!). Between their long-distance migrations, their role as indicators of ecosystem health, and their seemingly endless diversity, I quickly became enamored. This was further encouraged when I began helping with shorebird banding efforts in the Mississippi Delta with Delta Wind Birds. After learning to hold, band, and tag them, I realized that this was my bread and butter.
If you visit Bolivar Flats this summer, there’s a good chance you’ll see Isaac surveying the sanctuary for nesting birds. Be sure to say hello if you see him, and keep an eye out for nesting birds while you’re on the beach.
Houston AuduBlog 