About Us

Service Birding, LLC is run by a team of four people who all share a passion for birds and conservation.

Andrew Rothman

Andrew has over 10 years of experience working, studying and traveling in Costa Rica. Andrew spent 6 months studying in Monteverde, and later spent nearly one year as a Field Assistant with the Great Green Macaw Research Project. He later founded the Rainforest Biodiversity Group Inc. (RBG) a US based conservation organization that works in Costa Rica, of which he is still a member of the Board of Directors. Andrew has been working for bird conservation on private lands with local landowners in Costa Rica since 2000 and also was the Executive Director of the Sarapiqui Conservation Learning Center in Northern Costa Rica for one year. Having lived and worked in the region of the Costa Rican Bird Route, Andrew has a vast knowledge of the local birds and people. Andrew has also been employed by the Point Reyes Bird Observatory where he conducted point count bird surveys with National Forest Service and he spent three years as the Assistant Naturalist for the WI Dept. of Natural Resources at famed Horicon Marsh guiding groups of visitors and students. Andrew has a Wildlife Management and Biology degree from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and is currently based out of Madison, WI. Outside of birding and conservation, his other interests include rock climbing, yoga, fantasy football and fine beer.

Holly Robertson

Holly currently serves as President of the Rainforest Biodiversity Group (RBG) and has been helping develop the organization’s flagship project, the Costa Rican Bird Route, for the past three years. This work has included coordinating a volunteer program that has placed over 15 volunteers in Costa Rica since 2008; and the organization and leading of trip participants to Costa Rica. A Maryland native, Holly graduated from the University of Maine in 2003 with a B.S. degree in Wildlife Ecology and a minor in Spanish. Since graduation Holly has lived in several different states and provinces working on various projects ranging from small mammal trapping in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range to community outreach work for a small environmental non-profit in New Brunswick. Holly’s time spent with Rainforest Biodiversity Group has focused on not only supporting the Bird Route project, but also building the capacity of the organization to be more influential in habitat conservation. To that end, Rainforest Biodiversity Group has been able to expand its work within Costa Rica, as a land trust holding land in interest for conservation. Holly has a keen interest in international conservation and the concept of contributing while you travel, i.e. traveling with a conscience. When Holly isn’t working or travelling, she stays busy by playing in local ultimate Frisbee and volleyball leagues, as well as rock climbing.

Raquel Gomez

Raquel Gomez was born in Costa Rica in 1978. Since she was a child, she felt especially attracted for the natural world and the outdoors, where she spent a lot of her free time. She completed studies in English Teaching in 2000; however, her passion for nature and a desire to make a better world made her become a Tropical Biology student at Universidad Nacional in Costa Rica. She participated as a volunteer researcher in the Great Green Macaw Research Project in 2000 and 2001. Later, she became a naturalist guide. Raquel specialized in Ecotourism and did graduate studies in Project Management at University for International Cooperation. Since the idea of the Costa Rican Bird Route was born in 2004, she has been collaborating with RBG as a consultant. Currently, she is the Costa Rican Bird Route Project Coordinator in Costa Rica.

Yehudi Hernandez

Yehudi Hernandez is a native of Sarapiqui, Costa Rica and a true nature lover. His huge love for wildlife encouraged him to learn about the birds of his own area. Today he is fluent in English and has a vast knowledge of the wildlife of Costa Rica. He has been serving as a naturalist guide for seven years and has participated in several private programs with institutions such as the Organization for Tropical Studies and Fundacion Neotropica. He has also been in ecology and botany classes with Pepperdine and George Mason Universities. For those two schools, he currently serves as one of the instructors for their ecology classes in the tropics. Yehudi has also worked as an environmental educator for local schools in his hometown, using himself as an example, to encourage kids to become passionate for wildlife. Some of his field work experiences include working on research projects of bird migrations and bird nesting. He has also participated in studies of rain forest trees for more than three years. He uses his knowledge to teach and develop short term projects for some of the high school kids. Yehudi loves to share his country, culture and knowledge with any visitor.