Our Guides
Amy Simso Dean
Favorite Bird: Turkey Vulture
Founder, Executive Director, Guide - Amy has been birding for over 30 years. She founded MYBirdClub in 2014 in a Minneapolis Public Elementary School. She also co-founded The Kestrels (an inclusive birding club for MN women) where she organizes bird-related events and field trips. Amy also volunteers with MN Ornithologists Union.
In 2010 she started volunteering for The Raptor Center’s education department - giving tours and presenting live bird programs. She resigned after 15 years of wonderful experiences.
In 2024 she became a MN Master Naturalist.
As much as she loves birding, she really loves getting people, especially kids, excited about birds and conservation.
Lisa Keitel
Favorite Bird: Female Wood Duck
Program Leader, Guide - Lisa has been a Minnesota Master Naturalist since 2017. She is an experienced naturalist teaching school-aged students in outdoor education settings.
She volunteers with the education and birding programming for the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. Lisa created bird clubs for Gilda’s Club Twin Cities (a group serving cancer patients and survivors) and for neurodiverse young adults at Minnesota Independence College and Community in Richfield.
She received the Minnesota Ornithologist's Union Volunteer of the Year award in 2019. Birding with new birders of any age is her true passion.
Scarlet Fitzsimmons
Favorite Bird: American Woodcock
Guide - Scarlet is an accomplished naturalist who has dedicated her career to helping people discover the wonders of nature and outdoor recreation. While earning her degree from the University of Minnesota, Scarlet worked at the Raptor Center and became interested in trying to see some wild owls. This led her to take a transformative trip to Sax-Zim Bog, where she discovered her love for birdwatching.
Through numerous outdoor adventures and roles at the Bell Museum, Como Park Zoo, and Kroening Nature Center, Scarlet has honed her bird identification skills and acquired ample experience leading diverse groups in bird walks and environmental programs.
Scarlet co-founded The Kestrels (an inclusive birding club in MN) where she leads and organizes bird walks, annual trips to Sax-Zim Bog, and other bird-themed events.
Maximillian Borge
Favorite Bird: Kookabura
Guide, Board Member - Max most recently worked as a Naturalist and Outreach Coordinator at the University of Minnesota's Raptor Center.
Since traveling to Costa Rica in high school to assist with Sea Turtle conservation, Max has been fascinated with the outdoors and the flora/ fauna that we share it with. Since graduating with a degree in Environmental Studies Max has spent most of his professional life working as a classroom educator, an environmental educator, and a Zookeeper.
MYBird Club has provided Max with the opportunity to further encourage empathy for the outdoors with the local community.
Nora Bezanson
Favorite Bird: Willow Ptarmigan
Guide - I've always loved the outdoors, and birding is one of my favorite hobbies. I started in 2017, and I've been going ever since! It feels like every year, I find something new to love about it (and a new bird for my life list!). Someday I hope to be a wildlife biologist or naturalist, but for now I am very happy to help guide and show other kids how fun birding is.
Nora started with MYBirdClub as a birder, became a Youth Mentor, joined MYBirdClub’s board of directors and is now a guide.
Koryn Yarosz
Favorite Bird: Trumpeter Swan
Field Sketch Leader - Koryn leads the art component of MYBirdClub, helping kids slow down, look closely, and draw the birds and habitats they encounter. She has loved making art for as long as she can remember, and has worked in children's education for over 20 years.
As a child, Koryn was convinced she could talk to birds. You would often find her mimicking their calls and hoping for a song in return. That curiosity never left. For her, sketching is part wonder, part daydreaming, part magic - a quiet way to fall a little more in love with the natural world. She can't wait to share that with kids.
She keeps John Ruskin's words close: "I would rather teach drawing that my pupils may learn to love nature, than teach the looking at nature that they may learn to draw."
Julie Brophy
Favorite Bird: The bird YOU see on our walk which makes you say “WOW!”
Program Leader, Guide - Julie and Amy teamed up to launch MYBirdClub in 2014. She has engaged thousands of students and teachers in learning about the seasonal migration of birds and other species in her work at with Journey North, an online education program.
A passionate local birder and Naturalist herself, Julie has also been a co-leader of bird and nature walks at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum for 10+ years.