Brad Bumgardner serves as the Indiana Audubon Vice-President and is an interpretive naturalist for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, having worked a combined 10 years at Pokagon and Indiana Dunes State Park. He has received the Lucy Pitchler Award for Outstanding and Innovative Park Interpretation from the Indiana DNR.  When not birding the Indiana lake-shore on his days off, he practices bird banding and runs the dunes saw-whet owl banding station in the fall. Brad graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources, with specializations in Environmental Education and Ornithology. Brad chairs the Indiana Bird Records, Awards, and Fall Program Committees for Indiana Audubon Society. Brad has previous experience with the bird surveying trip to Cuba and is knowledgeable of the cultural and natural resources there.

 Arturo Kirkconnell began his career as a field naturalist in 1984 at The National Agency for the Protection of Flora and Fauna. In 1988, he joined Orlando Garrido at the Museum Of Natural History, where he is currently Curator of the Ornithology Department. Arturo has published more than 45 scientific papers and manuscripts, and is co-author of The Field Guide to The Birds of Cuba. He has been the recipient of numerous grants from North American sources, including the Canadian Wildlife Service for work at Long Point Bird Observatory (1989), The Rare Center for Tropical Conservation (1994), the American Museum of Natural History, New York (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009), and from The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C, in 2000. In addition, Arturo has received two grants for fieldwork from the Neotropical Bird Club and Birdquest to search for the Zapata Rail and Cuban Kite, which he recently documented. He has participated in international conferences of Zoology in Cuba in (1994,1998), as well with the Caribbean Ornithological Society in Jamaica (1991), Puerto Rico (1993), Bahamas (1996), and Cuba (1994, 2001). He has visited the US on numerous occasions, primarily to study and lecture at various museums, primarily on the east coast. Arturo speaks English, and he has lead numerous birding tours in Cuba since 1988.