Our Team
Catherine Rideout, Coordinator
Catherine joined the EGCPJV in 2009 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia. As coordinator, Catherine has a lead role in partnership coordination and facilitates and supports the EGCPJV board’s priority setting and strategic plan implementation. She also supports science planning and conservation delivery, with an emphasis on upland habitats and landbird conservation. Previously, Catherine served as the ornithologist for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, where she worked extensively with the initiative Partners in Flight and the National Bobwhite and Grassland Initiative, serving in key leadership roles with their working groups. Early in her career, Catherine spent five years working as a wildlife technician in the desert southwest and the tropics in managing field stations in Australia and Costa Rica. These experiences instilled in her the joy of learning about new places and cultures and taught her that people everywhere seek connection with nature and with each other, no matter where they call home. Catherine received a BS degree in Biology from Davidson College and a MS degree in Biology from Boise State University. Catherine has a passion for native plant gardening to support pollinators and birds and shares this passion with her neighbors and community members.
Rob Holbrook, Assistant Coordinator
Rob Holbrook joined the EGCPJV in 2010 and is based in Daphne, Alabama at the USFWS Ecological Services Field Office. As Assistant Coordinator, Rob has a lead role in science and planning, conservation delivery with a focus on prescribed fire and wetland habitats, and partnership coordination with an emphasis on strengthening partnerships with universities and estuary programs. Prior to joining the EGCPJV, he served as Science Coordinator with the Central Valley Joint Venture (CVJV) and developed and implemented the CVJV’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Plan. Previously, Rob directed the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission’s Wetland Program, and implemented Ducks Unlimited, Inc’s landscape-scale restoration activities across the Lower Mississippi Valley. Rob has served on Mississippi Flyway Council Technical Section, Pacific Flyway Study Group, and currently serves on the Choctawhatchee Estuary Program’s Technical Advisory Committee. Rob also previously served as North American Wetland Conservation Council Staff and plays an important role in supporting partners who are developing NAWCA proposals to support bird conservation in the EGCP. Rob received his M.S. in Wildlife from Louisiana State University and his B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of West Florida.
Deb Reynolds, Communication Coordinator
Deb joined the USFWS in 1999 working for the Northeast Region Refuge Program, first as a regional assistant planner, then as an interpreter for the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. In 2005, Deb began her role as the Communication and Outreach Coordinator for the Division of Migratory Birds in the Northeast Region. There, she established a culture of innovative and strategic communication practices and strategies for the Division, the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture, the Atlantic Flyway Shorebird Initiative, Eastern Working Group of Partners and Flight, and the Atlantic Marine Bird Cooperative. Deb was responsible for all aspects of communication and outreach for these partnerships, using her skills in strategic communication planning, story telling, message development, web and social media management, and graphic design to advance their biological goals and priorities. Deb recently retired from the USFWS and started her own consulting business, Chirp & Tell Communications where she is excited to continue to work and collaborate with partners in the migratory bird community.
Amy Schwarzer, Waterbird Coordinator
Amy first engaged with the EGCPJV in 2021 as part of the Waterbird Working Group and in 2022 came on board more fully to coordinate and write the Waterbird Conservation Plan. Currently, Amy is coordinating the creation of a Waterfowl Conservation Plan while continuing to press forward with waterbird conservation efforts in the JV. Prior to joining the EGCPJV, she served as an Assistant Research Scientist specializing in non-game waterbirds for the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. There she gained experience in conservation planning including working on FWC’s Species Action Plans and the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture’s Saltmarsh Bird Conservation Plan and Black Rail Conservation Plan. She received her M.S. in Interdisciplinary Ecology with a specialisation in Wildlife Ecology and her B.A. in Environmental Science from the University of Florida.