Ann Rivers
Medical Director 2023-present
Executive Director 1997-2023
Ann started her work in wildlife rehabilitation and education at the Audubon Society in Massachusetts. She became a master bird bander at the Long Point Bird Observatory in Ontario, involved there with bird research and protection of endangered nesting species.
She received her BSc. in wildlife biology from Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. After college, she studied whales and migrating birds at Mt. Desert Rock, a four acre island 25 miles offshore of Mt. Desert Island, Maine. The Rock houses a cetacean and avian research station belonging to the College of the Atlantic. There she began her love affair with bats, while mist-netting Storm Petrels at night, she caught Silver-haired Bats migrating over the gulf and fell in love with all bat species.
After four years on the Rock she moved inland, built a house on fifteen acres, had two sons, and became the lead rehabilitator and director at Acadia Wildlife Center.
Tony Mullane
Executive Director 2023-present
Tony had a very unique childhood being one of Ann Rivers sons, he grew up feeding baby animals, catching eagles, and learning so much about the natural world.
He started his professional career in the field of film, and film editing, and became the assistant director of the Maine Media Workshops Film Editing Department in Camden, ME. He then worked for MDI Biological Laboratories in their information technologies department, and finally ran his own multimedia consulting and film production business for 3 years. From 2019-2023 he has been working to complete his most recent dream of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, this past year completing over 600 miles.
Throughout the last ten years he has volunteered at Acadia Wildlife Center, working in the clinic and as president of the board of directors for the last five years. He takes on the role of fundraising, management of staff, web management, permits, expanding our education programs, and collaboration with other wildlife colleagues and community partners. His skills with film and communication are already apparent (look at “Past Years in Video” here) and we all look forward to having the years ahead be very exciting.
Katie Baron
Education Director
Katie Baron is a counselor and wildlife educator. Her passion is connecting people with animals and nature in a way that is mutually beneficial for both! Through her counseling practices she does this utilizing animal-assisted psychotherapy and nature-based activities that facilitate people learning more about themselves, their environment, and the animals they are sharing space with. As the Education Director she provides wildlife & environmental education programs at Acadia Wildlife nature center, teaching people about native wildlife and what we can do to help protect them and their environment. She is also a member of our Board of Directors since 2022.
Kaiti Hall
Clinic Staff
Kaiti Hall is originally from Bloomington, Illinois, and is currently a junior at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. Her passions run to wildlife rehabilitation and stress research with her long-term goal to be a wildlife vet. She started volunteering for us winter 2022 and then in the fall of 2023 we asked her to join the staff. She divides her time between classes and the clinic, as well as doing externships. Last summer she worked all summer doing Herring gull research on Mt. Desert Rock, tracking nest locations and nesting success, as well as conducting a study on human disturbance in the colony. This summer, she is planning to test for capture stress in gulls during the trapping and handling process. She is hoping to put on as many radio trackers as the program can afford. One of her many outside-the-classroom experiences was winter check-ins with female bear cubs and their newborns, run by Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. In her photo, she is shown helping to keep a cub occupied as the mother bear is receiving a health check.
Volunteers:
Vital to the operation of AWC is the hard work and generous attention of many, without whom we could not operate including vets, game wardens, interns, and board members.
Thank you to all who make this work possible.
