Cory Ross graduated from Oregon State University in 2019. He spent 11 years teaching band and choir in Michigan, before his growing passion for the environment and conservation issues led him to return to school. Cory has worked on a variety of research projects, including banding migrating birds in Northern Ontario, helping to study the impacts of climate change and sea level rise on the declining saltmarsh sparrow in Connecticut and studying the fire ecology of the black-backed woodpecker in Oregon. He moved to Vermont in 2015 and enjoys hiking, skiing, birding and generally spending time outside in the beautiful Green Mountains.