About Us >

Main office:
123 Kingston Drive, Suite 206 A
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 929-3899

Chris Canfield, Executive Director
Chris Canfield was named Executive Director of the North Carolina State Office in January 2000 after working as the office's Director of Development. He joined Audubon after more than 6 years with UNC-Chapel Hill. There he was Director of Development for the Ackland Art Museum and Director of Communications for UNC's business school. A former air force officer, Chris worked at the Pentagon as a liaison with national news media. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama and a graduate degree in English literature from the University of Oxford in England which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar. Chris is an avid birder and trained bird bander. He is former treasurer of the New Hope Audubon chapter. In 1998, he attended Audubon's Ecology Workshop in Wyoming. Chris authored a children's play about the environment, "The Green Man Gets a Hand," presented at schools around the Triangle. His wife, Kate, also a birder, is an outreach educator for the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. She is pursuing state certification as an environmental educator.

Karen Fernandez, Director of Development
Karen joined Audubon NC in October 2006. She has extensive training and experience in all aspects of fundraising. Most recently, she has been a campaign consultant with the Episcopal Church Foundation, providing feasibility study services to more than a dozen churches nationwide. Previously, Karen directed fundraising for a start-up alternative healing center in the Catskills of New York, raising more than $1.3 million to purchase, renovate, and program an historic 98-acre home site. A former board president for the North Carolina Recycling Association, Karen was instrumental in developing SunShares Recycling of Durham in the late 1980s. Karen has undergraduate and graduate degrees in psychology from the University of Virginia and the University of Washington, respectively. She is also certified by Duke University's Nonprofit Management program. A long-term North Carolina resident, she and her two children live in Hillsborough where Karen describes her family as a "bird clan" due to their passion for winged creatures.

Margaret Scott, Office Manager
Margaret Scott, a North Carolina native, grew up in Rockingham County. After graduating from UNC-Greensboro with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, she embarked on a 31 year career at the UNC Health Care System in Chapel Hill where she worked as a systems analyst and department manager.From childhood, Margaret has always had a sense of concern and caring for plants and animals. From her travels worldwide, she expanded her understanding of many ecosystems and the importance of their preservation. Witnessing the various environmental changes throughout the state, she chose to become more directly involved in work on conservation and restoration of ecosystems in North Carolina. Upon her retirement in April 2001, Margaret joined the North Carolina State Office staff as a part-time administrative assistant.

Coast Office and Sanctuaries:
7741 Market Street, Unit D
Wilmington, NC 28411-9444
(910) 686-7527

Walker Golder, Deputy Director
Walker Golder, a native of the North Carolina coast, grew up exploring the marshes, tidal creeks and beaches near his home on Wrightsville Beach. He developed a keen interest in waterbirds and shorebirds as a student of Dr. James F. Parnell and served as Warden for Audubon's Battery Island Sanctuary from 1986-89. After completing a Masters of Science degree in Marine Biology from UNC-Wilmington, Walker was hired by National Audubon as the first manager of the newly-created North Carolina Coastal Islands Sanctuary program. Under his management, the North Carolina sanctuary system has grown to 21 locations protecting tens of thousands of birds and their habitats. Walker also instituted and leads the NC Important Bird Areas Program that seeks to identify and protect the state's most vital bird habitats. In 1999, Walker became Deputy Director of the North Carolina State Office and heads up the Wilmington location. Walker received the National Audubon Society's "President's Award" in 1990, the National Audubon Society's Audubon Cares About Excellence Award for "Individual Achievement" in 1998, the Partner's In Flight "National Award for Stewardship" in 2001, and the Governor’s Award for Conservation Achievement -- "Wildlife Conservationist of the Year" in 2004.

Andy Wood, Director of Education
Andy Wood is the Education Director for Audubon North Carolina, a post he began in October 2000. Prior to his post with Audubon, he served for 13 years as the Education Curator for the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher. Andy earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife and Fishery Science from Texas A&M University in 1981.

In his role with Audubon, Andy is building partnerships with rural schools and other community organizations to develop content-based teacher workshops that will enable teachers to infuse outdoor-based environmental education into their classroom lesson plans. In addition to school projects, Andy is a member of the Non-game Wildlife Advisory Committee for the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. He is also a founding Steering Committee member for the NC Birding Trail—an initiative designed to enhance and develop bird-related tourism to help support sustainable tourism opportunities in North Carolina, with a focus on economically distressed communities.

In addition to his education work, Andy is the principle investigator for the propagation and study of two rare freshwater snails, both endemic to southeastern North Carolina.

From 1987 to present, Andy has reported his observations in nature as a weekly radio commentator on Wilmington’s public radio station WHQR, and a compilation of this work has recently been published in Andy’s first book: Backyard Carolina: Two Decades of Public Radio Commentary.

Andy and his wife, Sandy, live in Hampstead, NC with their two sons, Robin and Carson.

Angela Mangiameli, Conservation Biologist
Angela joined Audubon NC in early January 2007. She grew up in Texas where she received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from The University of Texas at Arlington. Her dedication to conservation of wildlife, particularly birds, led her to pursue a Master of Science in Wildlife Management from Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas, where she studied wading bird behavior and habitat use. After graduating in May 2006 she spent her time over the summer and fall as a research technician working with Crested Caracaras in Florida. Angela is now looking forward to continue working in conservation and management of birds in North Carolina. She will serve as Audubon NC's Conservation Biologist for the IBA and Sanctuary Programs, and will be based in the Wilmington office.

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Mountain Office:
667 George Moretz Lane
Boone, NC 28607
(828) 265-0198

Curtis Smalling, Mountain Region Biologist
As early as elementary school, Curtis Smalling was keeping bird lists. In high school, he was an active member of the Grandfather Mountain Audubon Society. He’s been going gangbusters ever since. Good thing because for the last three seasons, Curtis has used his birding skills to survey Golden-winged Warblers (a Watchlist species) in the NC mountains for Audubon as part of Cornell’s Golden-winged Warbler Atlas Project. "Curtis has conducted the most thorough and complete surveys in many years for the species and has found significant populations," says Deputy Director, Walker Golder. "As a result, we’ve been able to add these sites to our list of North Carolina IBAs." As Audubon NC’s Mountain Region Biologist, Curtis will conduct extensive breeding bird surveys on sites that have been nominated for IBA status but lack sufficient data. His most recent work has allowed us to list the Amphibolite Mountains and Wilson Creek-Linville Gorge as IBAs. This work is also used to help support public policy issues. He leads the mountain component of the NC IBA program and the Adopt-an-IBA program. "The state office is thrilled by all the great work Curtis is doing in support of our mission." says Executive Director, Chris Canfield. "We’re also really envious of all the birding he gets to do!"

Sidney Maddock, Field Technician
Sidney Maddock is Audubon’s Field Technician on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Originally trained as an attorney, he now focuses his efforts on the conservation of shorebirds and colonial waterbirds. Sid’s work includes the management of Audubon’s sanctuary islands near Ocracoke Inlet, where American Oystercatchers, Common Terns, Least Terns, and Brown Pelicans nest. He also has closely followed the National Park Service’s management of shorebirds and colonial waterbirds at Cape Hatteras National Seashore. For the last four years, Sidney has suggested ways for the Park to be more bird friendly in the management of off-road vehicles. Sidney is particularly interested in the conservation of Piping Plovers, and has conducted surveys for this rare species on the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts of the United States and the Bahamas. He is available to give presentations on Piping Plover conservation issues and survey and band identification skills. A resident of Buxton, North Carolina, Sidney is an avid photographer of beach nesting birds.