​Our Board of Directors & Staff:

Katie Fallon, CPBT-KA, Executive Director. Katie is an educator, writer, and Certified Professional Bird Trainer. She writes the column Wingbeats for Bird Watcher’s Digest and is the author of the nonfiction books Vulture (2020, 2017) and Cerulean Blues (2011), and two books for children. She has taught writing at West Virginia University and Virginia Tech, and she is the Manager of the Cheat Lake Farmers Market. Since the mid-1990s Katie has trained a wide variety of raptors, parrots, and corvids. She holds a Master's degree in writing from WVU and a Bachelor's degree from Penn State. Her first word was "bird."

LeJay Graffious, Board Chair. LeJay Graffious had a thirty-six year career as a teacher and principal in Preston and Monongalia Counties, WV. He currently is the administrator of the Old Hemlock Foundation. He has had a lifelong interest in the natural world. He is a licensed bird bander whose research includes: longitudinal monitoring of avian production and survivorship at the Old Hemlock Bird Observatory; banding fall migrants at the Allegheny Front Bird Observatory; on the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge as a participant in the Eastern Woodcock Migration Research Cooperative by installing GPS transmitters on woodcock; and managing a Saw-whet Owl Banding Station on the refuge. He also bands releasable rehabilitated birds for ACCA. 

Erin E. Katzner, CPBT-KA, Board Vice Chair. Erin has served as Vice President of Marketing and Communications at The Peregrine Fund, serves on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators, and is President & CEO at the Carolina Raptor Center. She has trained hawks, eagles, vultures, owls, falcons, and corvids at The Peregrine Fund, the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium, and the National Aviary. She holds a Master's degree in Public Policy & Management.

Jesse A. Fallon, DVM, PhD, Board Secretary & Treasurer. Jesse is one of the owners of Cheat Lake Animal Hospital in Morgantown, WV, as well as past Conservation Chair and current West Virginia State Liaison for the Association of Avian Veterinarians. He recently received a PhD in Fish & Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech; his research focused on ecotoxicology. Jesse has provided veterinary care for hundreds of species of birds at zoos and wildlife centers as well as for private enthusiasts and falconers.

B. Jean Meade, DVM, MD, PhD, Board Member Jean is one of the owners of Cheat Lake Animal Hospital, as well as co-founder of The Human-Animal Bond, Inc., a 501c3 nonprofit. Her wide range of research interests include wildlife conservation, service dog training, and immunotoxicology.  

Todd Katzner, PhD, Co-founder & Past Board Member Todd is a Research Wildlife Biologist at the USGS in Boise, ID. His research focuses on wildlife conservation ecology and the interaction between wildlife and the role of wildlife in natural systems. For more information, visit Todd’s website.  

Cheyenne Carter, CPBT-KA, Bird Trainer & Educator Cheyenne works with the non-releasable birds in our care and conducts environmental education programs. She has a BS in Biology with a minor in Wildlife from West Virginia University, and she is a member of the International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators and has been a recipient of the Walter Crawford Memorial Scholarship to attend IAATE’s conference.

Evan McWreath, MS, Director of Conservation Research. Evan is a GIS Specialist and Field Biologist who previously worked with critically endangered California condors on the Big Sur Coast, CA, at Ventana Wildlife Society. Prior to living in California, Evan was a student at West Virginia University, and began working with condors in 2015 as a Research Assistant with Dr. Jonathan Hall in the Wilderness Geography Lab. Evan graduated from WVU with a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Geoscience in 2016 and a Master’s degree in Geography (GIS) in 2019, and focused his research on lead exposure in condors.