Zac Denning has been an avid birder and bird song listener from an early age. He studied ornithology at The Evergreen State College. In his younger years, he did several internships banding birds and assisting with Song Sparrow research at the Palomarin Field Station for Point Blue Conservation Science (formerly Point Reyes Bird Observatory), near Bolinas, CA. He has also in the past illustrated birds for scientific reports and bird conservation programs. Zac is also a long time friend of the Green Gulch community, having been a resident for a Practice Period in 1998, and has been leading Green Gulch bird song walks for many years since then. He lives in Albany, CA with his wife, two teenage kids and his (bird-friendly, indoor) cat, Django.