Robert L. Manson
Robert L. (Bob) Manson met Robert Alvo at Queen’s University in 1976. He has been involved in BABINA since its conception in 2003. In addition to playing a vital role with general advice, he has been heavily involved in providing ideas for cartoons prepared by other artists, cartoon review, quality control of the maps, content review, proof-reading, and layout design. He also drew a number of his own cartoons. Bob was born into an Air Force family, so flying machines were always nearby throughout his youth. Later on he became an engineer in the aircraft industry and worked at Pratt and Whitney Canada, and then for most of his career at Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) in Fort Erie, Ontario. Bob has always been fascinated by things that fly, so it’s natural that one of his interests is birding—casually since childhood and more seriously starting in the 1980s. Bob and his wife Joanne live in Stevensville, Ontario.
Raleigh J. Robertson
Raleigh J. Robertson was Robert Alvo’s undergraduate thesis co-supervisor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, in 1980-81. He performed in-depth reviews of BABINA’s main contents, and provided advice to Rob on various issues.
Raleigh obtained his PhD at Yale University, then became Professor at Queen’s (1971–2010), where he directed its biology station (QUBS) for 33 years and greatly expanded its conservation land holdings. He supervised 47 graduate and 73 undergraduate theses, which contributed considerably to his 200+ papers published on avian behavioral ecology (focusing on mating systems). Raleigh is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Héctor Gómez de Silva
Mexican-born Héctor Gómez de Silva played a key role in developing the Spanish bird names for use in Mexico, and evaluating the conservation status of each species in Mexico. He also reviewed a few species accounts.
Héctor has lived on three continents and speaks five languages. His PhD thesis examined bird community ecology, but most of his 100+ publications cover Mexican bird distribution, natural history, taxonomy, and conservation. He was involved in raising the Nava’s Wren to species status and he translated the voice descriptions in the Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America to Spanish. Héctor is a bird tour leader, mostly with Eagle-Eye Tours.
Special thanks to the following contributors, whose biographies could not be included in Being a Bird in North America.
Leslie Alvo
Leslie Alvo proofread most of the book in the final stages. She is an avid Sudoko solver and word-game player, and has done technical writing, instructional design, and desktop typesetting. A devoted daughter, mother of two, and grandmother of two, she edits and writes based in St. Lazare, Quebec. She owns a Scrabble dictionary and binoculars.
David Seburn
A geographer-turned-herpetologist, David Seburn loves surveying, researching, and writing about reptiles and amphibians. A highly devoted member of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, being outdoors is critical for him at any season, but he will play pool with Rob Alvo when it’s too rainy or below -30º degrees.
