Like a vagrant bird caught in a storm, I didn’t choose to work in Hawai’i, rather, it chose me. Like many animal enthusiasts, I pursued a pre-veterinary track in college until I discovered that I was happiest in wild spaces, like those near my hometown of Spokane, Washington, and wanted to protect them. After graduating from Cornell University in 2015, with my B.S. in Biology, I returned near home to study deer responses to forestry treatments in Colville National Forest. After applying far and wide for my next job, I seemingly randomly found myself on O’ahu, studying seed dispersal by introduced birds and rodents. I fell in love with Hawai’i’s diverse ecosystems, birds, and people, and after learning about the dramatic history of resource exploitation, invasive species introduction, and mass extinction of birds and plants, I endeavored to get involved with managing invasive predators. I worked in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park for 9 months studying benefits of invasive rat removal for ‘Elepaio nesting. Other exciting opportunities drew me to work with fairy-wrens in Australia, Canada jays in Denali National Park, and migratory songbirds on the Colorado River, but my heart kept drawing me back to Hawai’i, including in 2019 when I worked with the Kaua’i Forest Bird Recovery Project on the critically endangered ‘Akikiki, ‘Akeke’e, and Puaiohi. My experiences have influenced my choice in master’s project, which is funded by a joint Department of Defense grant with my alma mater, Cornell University. I am interested in applications of passive acoustic monitoring as a tool for estimating bird population density and answering questions about avian ecology, while creating minimal disturbance and drawing less time and resources away from other management tasks. I am excited to be working in a tight-knit community with so much passion and talent, and grateful that the trade winds blew me back this way.