Armand Bayou Nature Center

Executive Director

Tom Kartrude
281-474-2551 ext. 11

Tom brings many talents and experiences to this position. He earned a BA degree in Earth Science from California State University and a MBA from Pepperdine University. For the past 10 years he has served as port manager in Lane County Oregon but earlier worked in Houston as a geologist.

Tom has varied experiences serving as a naturalist and geoscience instructor for coastal hiking, photography, whale watch and related natural history programs. He has been an active volunteer with the Seattle Aquarium the Perpetua Foundation and the Siuslaw National Forest.

Stewardship Coordinator

Mark Kramer
281-474-2551 ext. 15

Mark is a native of Pasadena Texas who serves as Stewardship Coordinator. His job includes managing the natural and cultural resources of the nature center.

Stewardship Biologist

George grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas spending much time on Padre Island and exploring the South Texas brush land. He has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches with concentrations on ornithology, herpetology and entomology.

George joined Armand Bayou Nature Center as Staff Naturalist in 1976 and has worked here as a naturalist, teacher and field trip leader, and currently as a members of the ABNC preserve resource management team. He was Director of Armand Bayou Nature Center from 1993 to 2000. He also co-owns Skimmer Nature Tours and serves as their primary naturalist guide for birding tours.

George has lead US and international birding and natural history field trips to Arizona, California, Maine, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Trinidad, Canada, Mexico and Brazil and to numerous areas of interest state wide. He specializes in the study of birds. His hobbies include playing guitar and bluegrass banjo, racquetball, plus wood and metal work.

Education Director

Heather Millar
281-474-2551 ext. 14

Heather is responsible for growth and maintenance of educational programs, classes, workshops and camps at ABNC. She enjoys spending time outdoors, camping and discovering new areas to explore with her family.

Education and Outreach

Rebekah Gano
281-474-2551

Rebekah is one of our newest education staff members! She started hanging around ABNC in September 2007, teaching classes and volunteering. Now that she has become an official staff member, she will be very busy developing education programs and helping with administrative duties.

Biologist

Kelli Haskett
281-474-2551 ext. 17

Kelli has a B.S. in business administration from Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, LA and a M.S. in Environmental Management from University of Houston Clear Lake. She is just completing an additional M.S. in Environmental Biology from UHCL, where her thesis research project focused on a turtle species found in Galveston Bay, the Texas diamondback terrapin.

Program Manager

Kathy Gardner
281-474-2551 ext. 13

Biography in progress.

Visitor Services Coordinator

Barbara Baxter
The Office
281-474-2551 ext. 10

Barbara is the first to greets our visitors. She helps visitors get start on their tour of ABNC by answering questions and pointing out our interesting sites. She also helps visitors with making reservations and scheduling their Nature Center visit.

Visitor Services

Dick Phelps
281-474-2551 ext. 10

Dick works admissions, Sunday and is on call during the week. Retired VP-Verizon Commutations, BA and MA in Industrial Relations

Facilities Volunteer

Lew Hornung
281-474-2551 ext. 16

Lew work at ABNC for years and after retiring he stuck around to help out. Lew now volunteers as our facilities coordinator and resident historian.